Breaking Down
by jones2000
Summary: Sequel to Suck This. Ella and Eddie are back for more, struggling through relationship troubles, a side trip to Italy, accidentally starting a war, marriage, and the sudden appearance of a baby. What's the worst that could happen?
1. Not what I Expected

AN- Sequel to Suck This, a Twilight semi-parody. It'd help if you read that first, but if not, the only things you really need to know is that Eddie Collins is the human, and Ella Swain is the vampire. The rest you should pick up.

PS. I'm having entirely too much fun with these.

* * *

Everything seemed to be on an unrelenting path, soldiering onwards, no matter how many times I tried to slam on the brakes. Sometimes my head seemed to spin with how fast everything was moving.

I wasn't quite sure it happened, but somehow I, Ella Swain, became accepted as Spencer's replacement in the Fawkes Vampire Council. Apparently my appointment was the obvious choice to many of the council members, as it had come to light that I was in fact Spencer's blood fledgling. Yeah, a homicidal maniac had made me, and even though he had been killed and I finally had some answers from the night I was changed, I was only confronted with even more problems. Like trying to maintain some control over the vampire population of Fawkes, or attempting to placate the unseen skinwalker tribe.

And trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of my vampire hunter boyfriend, whose exposure to my blood had him turned into a quasi-immortal. Ladies and gentlemen, he could slice, dice, and still had the same bad attitude.

It was night. I was finishing up a council meeting taking place in the primary school assembly hall, under the guise of a student council, because no one really bothers to join the student council in a small town.

Inez Blackstone, the most senior member of the council despite her little-girl appearance, was watching me gravely as I slipped into my coat. It was raining out; a strange occurrence in the dry and dusty little town of Fawkes.

"You have plans." Inez said. It wasn't a question.

I often puzzled the other senior members of the council with my behaviour. Most other vampires begin to lose touch with their humanity within a week of being sired, but as my sire abandoned me and as I happened to be extremely inebriated at the time, I had no memory of even being bitten.

My body was vampire, but my mind was still human.

"Yeah."

"With Edward?"

"Yeah."

I was almost at the door when she spoke again. "This is going to ruin you both. You know that."

I turned back to her. My eyes were flinty. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Inez sighed, and her eyes were sad with wisdom gleaned from hundreds of years of darkness and suffering.

"You must understand why I speak thus."

"Don't give me the whole mortality speech, Inez. It's getting old fast."

The little girl glided over the polished wooden floorboards and grasped my sleeve, looking up into my face earnestly.

"I do not try to discourage you from the course you have chosen. I have seen that you will not be easily dissuaded." I looked down at her suspiciously.

"How do you imagine that this will end well? I ask you, _see_ yourself as you will be two hundred or more years from now, having watched everything around you perish, cold and calculating, that which makes you Ella Swain scoured away by time until all that is left is the vampire."

"Inez, please..."

"Edward as he will be by then, beginning to age, bitter, having watched all those he has come to love die around him. As much as you are the vampire, he has truly become the hunter, because that is all he has left. The feelings that had once burned so brightly for you have turned inwards and twisted upon themselves, and so he feels no more love for you than resentment and hate that you have, in your own way, taken the rest of his life from him."

"Stop it!" I wrenched my arm from her grip, which was the rough equivalent of ripping my wrist from a stone. I didn't realise it, but I was reflectively taking long, measured breaths through my nose even though I really didn't need to.

"You don't know anything!"

"Do you think you are the first vampire to have ruined their whole existence for the sake of some _human_?" Inez demanded. "I have watched this happen before. I have watched countless lives torn apart because of one foolish mistake!"

"Don't call him a mistake."

"I didn't call _him_ a mistake." Inez replied dryly, and I pretended to not see the subtext. "I just hope when it is time that you are strong enough to make the right decision."

* * *

The next day I was eighteen years old. Well, numerically at least. Biologically, I would forever remain seventeen. In an absurd kind of way, I was pleased that I wouldn't ever have to worry about sagging or grey hairs.

Dad bought me a digital camera and the computer software that I had wanted, with the condition that I teach him how to use the new computer network at the police station. I didn't hear from my mum, nor had I really expected to.

Eddie's truck was parked in its usual spot when I got to the school. The family had been absent from Fawkes for the last few days, and I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know why. Anyway, if it directly pertained to me, Eddie, Alice, or one of the others would have called me by now.

Somehow I had become the eyes and ears of Fawkes.

Emmett and Eddie were sitting on a massive toolbox lashed to the bed of the truck, conversing quietly. It took me by surprise as I had been told that only Eddie would be at the assembly today to collect his family's Higher School Certificate documents and other awards. He'd joked that he'd need a couple of sacks to lug home all Emmett's sporting trophies.

Emmett and Rosalie were a year older than the rest of us, and it had always struck me as strange why they mysteriously missed their first year of high school.

As I approached, Emmett pointed me out to Eddie and they both sprang easily down from the truck. Eddie was in jeans and his school jersey, while Emmett wore shorts and thongs.

I guessed he wasn't staying long.

"Hey, sexy lady," Emmett greeted me boisterously, his hand snaking out and snatching a ball of fluff from my own jersey.

"Thanks." I said. "Do you want Rosalie to kill you?"

"It'll just be our little secret, sugar." He blew me a kiss, which I pretended to catch in my hand, grinning. Eddie shook his head despairingly, in that _everyone's-insane-but-me _way of his.

"What about this one, then?"I asked, sliding my arm around Eddie's waist, my hand settling comfortably in a back pocket. "Do we off him?"

"Him?" Emmett eyed his brother. "What's he going to do? _Angst _me to death?"

The bell rang, and after a minute or two, people began to head to the multipurpose hall. Emmett walked some of the way with us on the other side of me, an arm casually slung around my neck. Ed and I were about to join the other graduated seniors when his brother suddenly sprung something on me that almost made me fall over.

"So, Rosalie wants you to be one of her bridesmaids." He said casually.

It took a minute before I could think up a witty reply. "Did her first choice put on ten pounds after they'd already bought the dresses?" I frowned.

"I think she wants to bury the hatchet," Eddie said softly, his breath stirring my hair.

"Yeah. Right between my eyes." I said sarcastically.

Emmett grinned. "I'm sure I'll see you at the house after." I knew which house he was talking about. Before Eddie could protest, he lent forward and kissed me on the cheek.

"Happy birthday."

Chuck was used to me disappearing over to the Collins', and although he didn't entirely approve, he reluctantly had to admit that there were worse things I could have been getting up to. In a way it comforted him that I was spending time with Esme Collins, as I had never really had a mother figure before.

That night, as Alice and I dressed for prom night, Rosalie filled us in on her wedding plans. Her animosity for me had temporarily faded as she gravely informed me how I was to stand, how I was to walk, what I was to wear, and how my hair was to be styled.

After that was done, it was all about the formal again. Alice and I decided that if Jasper and Eddie really didn't want to go, like Eddie kept insisting he didn't, the pair of us were going stag anyway. I stood as still as I could as Alice tied me into my dress and Esme twisted my hair into an elegant knot on the back of my head. I felt like a new toy whose novelty hadn't worn off yet.

Finally I stood gaping in front of the mirror, wondering what the hell happened to the tough, slightly-scary-looking latchkey kid I had been. Rosalie nodded at my image approvingly, clearly rating my chances of messing up her wedding photos.

Alice fiddled with the back of my skirt, making sure it hung right. She was wearing a black slinky number which ended several inches above her knees. With her pale skin, slicked-back hair and red painted lips, I momentarily wondered who was the vamp.

Following her lead, we pranced down the stairs and then threw little poses when we reached the landing. Suddenly Eddie lost interest in the busty girl on the TV and Jasper fumbled his book, dropping it to the ground.

"Well, babe, we better get going," I said to Alice as she puckered her lips at me.

It was amazing how quickly those two males got up off the couch.

"Are you sure you're not coming?" Alice asked Emmett.

"Nah." Emmett was still watching the television, Rosalie nestled between his legs. "Might crash it later, though."

"Bring alcohol,"

"Yes, ma'am."

We went in Eddie's truck. I didn't realise until we were almost at the school that this was the first time he had driven me anywhere in the truck. I looked at him as he watched the road ahead of us. He didn't have enough time for a shower, so he'd slapped on some of my favourite spicy cologne and rolled into a spare tuxedo I'd found secreted at the back of his wardrobe. His hair was gel-free and fell in natural waves over his brow, and a bit of stubble gave him a rakish look.

"That was a rotten trick," He grumped at me as he pulled into the carpark.

I smiled winningly. "You're just a pervert who wants to see two hot girls make out."

Eddie tried to remain serious, but his expression crumbled. "You're impossible."

"And you love it."

The multipurpose hall was decorated with paper flowers and actual ribbon-festooned arches. I gripped Eddie's arm as his eyes danced around the hall. "What are you looking for?"

"Cataloguing exits in case of an attack by zombie cheerleaders or a serial killer." He said flatly. I had to concede that I too was reminded of many prom night slasher flicks.

"Killjoy." I hissed.

"I can't dance." He protested weakly.

"I'll show you." I dragged him on to the floor. "The main thing you need is body control, which you have in spades. Follow my lead."

I was pleased to say that after an hour, my foot was only stepped on twice. Then for some reason, Eddie stopped. I followed his gaze.

Jack Black was hovering by the doors, looking uncomfortable. When he saw me looking, he gestured for me to come outside for a minute. I cast a look at Eddie, who shrugged.

"See what he wants."

And so I lifted my skirt over my ankles and wove my way through the dancers until reaching the door and Jack. "Hi."

"Hi."

"What's up?"

Jack looked awkward, and tugged at his uneven tie. "Well, my dad kind of paid me to come to your prom."

My eyebrows rose. "O...kay."

"My dad kind of... wants you to break up with your boyfriend."

"O...kay." I said again. Despite myself, I was curious. "Did he tell you why?"

"It's a little... weird."

I laughed. "Jack, you've seen the _real_ me. Me and weird are best mates."

Jack looked a little better. "He said that Eddie's dangerous. Or rather he _will _be dangerous. He says something bad is going to happen and you need to be ready, because you don't know what you've done. Or something along those lines."

It was so ridiculous that I almost started laughing again. "Well, tell him thanks, but I think that I can _probably _handle myself."

"That's what I said." I heard a new song start up behind me, a Bon Jovi song. _Dateline early Sunday morning, shots ring out without a warning, no one seems to even blink in this town... _"But you know dads..."

"Yeah, I know. You better make sure that he pays you."

With a wave, Jack vanished off school grounds and I was the one hovering in the doorway. Suddenly I remembered talking with Inez and her morbid vision of the future for me and Eddie. No one I spoke to could tell me exactly _what_ my blood would do to Eddie's system, his mind.

_I didn't call _him_ a mistake_, Inez had said. Did that mean _I _was the mistake? The vampire who didn't know how to be a vampire? The vampire, who, instead of letting a vampire hunter die, had ripped open her own skin and changed him into something that wasn't quite human _or_ supernatural?

_Alice had a vision of him being like me, but not like me._

I stood in the door until I felt Eddie's hands creeping around my waist. "Are you alright?" He whispered.

I disentangled myself from him, my face expressionless. And I knew that I had no idea what would happen to Eddie because of me, and I knew that I was too close to see the signs of madness.

It was amazing how much could change in the blink of an eye.

"Ella?" His dark blue eyes were filled with love and concern, and I fought not to let those emotions overwhelm me.

"I have to go." I said softly.

"Sure. I'll get the truck, and-"

"I mean I have to _go_." This time he caught my meaning, and something in his face changed. "I just..." How could I hope to explain what I felt? That I had made a mistake by saving his life? "I need to... find out who I am." It sounded lame, even to me.

"I'm no good for you."

"You're right." He agreed. "But I don't care."

"Maybe not now." I turned and softly touched his face. "Not yet. Sooner or later you'll start hating me for what I did, and the thing that makes you the amazing, sweet guy that you are will break. And it'll be my fault. I can't watch that." I stepped away. "I need to find out how to make things right."

And before he could say anything else, I ran down the steps.

I needed to go somewhere. To get away.

It was early next morning when I shook my dad awake and informed him that in half an hour I would be on a plane to Italy.

I didn't realise until later what a bad idea _that_ was.


	2. Addicted to You

To pass the time on my flight, I made myself fall asleep. I had the same dream I had been having on and off since I arrived in Fawkes.

I was running through the bushland, streaking across the ground. Thorns and burrs snagged at my jeans, but I didn't even slow down. I still couldn't pinpoint exactly whether I was predator or prey. I just ran.

But something was different this time. The gums loomed over threateningly, crowding in on dream-me's awareness. Somewhere something gave an inhuman scream, and the real-me watched as she skidded to a stop, startled.

Her head swung slowly around, coldly scanning for threats to her progress. Dream-me chilled real-me with her seemingly-deadly precision and icy determination to let nothing significantly slow her down.

_He is coming, _Alice had said, what felt like years ago, and at the time I thought she had meant Spencer. But it had been about someone else entirely.

There was a deliberate rustling and he stepped out fluidly into my path.

Dream-me turned to stare into the cold, hard face that I had last seen creased into lines of sadness and loss, but the emotion I felt as I stared into his face was not love or relief, but a cold coil of despair so strong that I thought it would kill me.

Those beautiful blue eyes were dead, and I knew without a doubt that I was responsible.

"Hello, killer." He greeted me cheerfully, and that was about the time I woke up.

_**Volterra, Italy.**_

After a fortnight, I still hadn't really begun to unpack my things. I still possessed amazingly little, as I had learned when I was young that I could live on the bare essentials.

Digging around in my bag, my fingers brushed against something hard. Grasping it, I withdrew a little blue box, the same colour as Eddie's eyes. For a moment my body stiffened. He must have snuck it into my bag the last time I was over.

I stuffed the box back into my bag, not daring to open it. I wasn't sure whether I was furious at him or furious at myself.

But instead of sitting in a dark room and dwelling on what I had lost, I grabbed my camera and left to do the tourist-y thing.

In my pocket, my phone stayed silent.

I had a long conversation with Chuck the moment I arrived at the hotel. I explained somewhat haltingly that I wanted to get my head together before I accidentally hurt somebody. He'd sighed, but said that if it was what I needed to do, I should stick with it. My dad knew if he demanded that I come home and stop screwing around, he'd just look like a hypocrite. After all, at my age, Chuck had been a notorious partier who'd already (although he didn't know it yet) gotten a girl pregnant.

I'd also received a voicemail from Esme, asking anxiously when I thought I would be back in Fawkes and almost begging me to phone them, as Eddie was starting to act strange.

There was some sort of celebration going on. St Marcus Day, the woman at the counter informed me with a bright smile. I was suddenly extremely glad I had decided to take Italian for language class.

"Lei dovrebbe vedere da Palazzo dei Priori. La veduta c'è migliore."

"Ringraziamenti." I said. Somehow I could not summon up the required enthusiasm. "Che ha fatto St Marcus?"

This time the receptionist answered me in English. "St Marcus banished the vampires from Volterra."

"How sporting of him," I mumbled, turning away. The last thing I needed was more trouble.

I snapped off photos idly as I ambled through the throngs of locals and tourists alike. Everyone around me seemed to be having a jolly good time. Me, I thought the capes and glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs were probably a bit much.

As I passed across the long shadow of Palazzo dei Priori, suddenly all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Slowly, unbelievably slowly, I turned. Across the fountain directly opposite me stood a girl, staring at me unflinchingly. Her face was so symmetrical it was almost frightening. She was wearing a buttoned-up grey suit despite the heat, her hands clasped behind her back.

But what really made me stare were her strange crimson eyes, like they had sucked all the colour out of the rest of her body, leaving her a pallid shade of grey.

She just kept staring, and after a moment I felt a burning, itching sensation under my scalp, like something was trying to burrow its way through my brain. My mouth dropped open and I was rooted to the spot, unable to look away from those cold crimson eyes. I was forced to start walking forward, then-

"Ella!"

The enchantment broke. I could move again, and I stumbled back.

"Ella!" A strong, warm hand curled around my wrist, jerking me around. Caught off balance, I slammed into a hard chest and suddenly my nose was flooded with my favourite spicy smell.

It was a good thing I didn't really need to breathe, because Eddie was crushing me in his arms like he never intended to let me go again. The legs of his jeans were wet, and I wondered if he had launched himself through the fountain to get to me. For a moment everything seemed so ludicrous that I just wanted to double over laughing.

Gripping my forearms almost painfully, he held me out at arm's length, his eyes roving over my face like he wanted to lock my image in his mind forever. Immediately I felt guilty. He looked sick, with great dark circles under his eyes, and his pale skin seemed paler than ever.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, and his arms dropped to his sides, like I had slapped him. I heard smaller footsteps approaching at a run, and glanced over my shoulder to see Alice hurtling across the ground at both of us. Her eyes were frantic.

She skidded to a stop not far from us, almost falling. Her calm voice belied her flustered appearance.

"Oh, good. You're still alive."

In the bustle, no one had really noticed us, for which I was thankful for. I stared at them both, and said the one word that summed up the situation.

"_What?"_

Before I had the chance to add anything else, Eddie jumped in, hands held out in front of him almost like he was trying to placate a spooked animal.

"Don't be mad. I needed to talk to you," His speaking voice was husky and scratchy, like he hadn't used it much since I left.

"So you followed me to _Italy_? What happened to your _phone_?"

"You wouldn't have picked up!"

He was right. I wouldn't have. And then something occurred to me. I turned to Alice.

"What do you mean I'm _still alive_?" I demanded.

For a moment Alice looked uncomfortable. "I saw you... walk away. And then there was nothing. That would have been unacceptable." She said matter-of-factly.

"Unacceptable?" I whispered.

"I..." Eddie took a breath, and began again. "I'd die without you."

"Eddie, it'd be hard, but you'll get over-"

"No!" He howled in frustration. He knotted his fingers into his hair, looking deranged. After a moment, he appeared to calm somewhat. "The last two weeks have been the worst of my life since my parents died. I thought I'd get over it too, but I didn't stop... _hurting._ The... longer you stayed away from me, the sicker I got. I thought I was losing my _mind_."

"I don't-" I shook my head.

"I'm not being metaphorical here." He snapped. "It was _physical pain_. I am _very_ literally... addicted to you."

I felt like I had just run into a brick wall, and the air whooshed out of me. I remembered all too well smearing my blood on his lips, trying to coax him back to life in that deserted school hall.

"Oh my god."

"That's why it is unacceptable that you die." Alice said sternly.

"Because then I would as well." Eddie said softly. He gave a small, sour laugh.

"You're like my personal brand of heroin."

That was when the trembling started, and I didn't think it would stop. Eddie grabbed at my arms again, concerned for me despite the fact that he looked like Death warmed up.

"Well, that's inconvenient." I breathed.

"Tell me about it." Alice snapped. She seemed much more agitated and higher-strung than I remembered, but I assumed that seeing an endless stream of people die would do that to anybody. "We can't _afford _to go jetting around the world every time you got cold feet."

Eddie looked down at the ground.

"What? Cold feet? What are you talking about?"

"You haven't opened your birthday present yet, have you?" He whispered.

For a moment I was confused. And then I thought of the small blue box, and I exploded.

"You want me to _marry_ _you_?!" I screeched. People around us stopped to stare, before slinking away carefully. I'd always had an aversion to marriage in general, since the institution seemed to have no real meaning anymore. But this? Sprung on me when I'd just been told that my continued existence was essential for his survival?

My head screamed _shotgun wedding._

It was then that I realised that with the two Collins siblings noisy arrival, I had completely forgotten the girl in the grey suit.

She stepped forward to greet us. I swear, I had never seen her move. Swinging her head around almost mechanically, she eyed both Eddie and Alice, before turning those deadly crimson eyes on me.

"You have a most unusual taste in pets." She observed to me in a thin voice. "Your presence has been requested."

I unconsciously took a step forward, but I was ready for her mind tricks this time. As some sort of force seized control over both Alice and Eddie, I grabbed their wrists, holding them back. The girl in the grey suit looked at me curiously.

"What if I decline?" I said sharply.

"I am afraid you don't understand. Your presence has been _requested_." She insisted, and I noticed flashes of movement out of the corners of my eyes. I saw other suited people creep up on us, virtually unseen by the crowd, all of them pale faced and visually perfect. "I must insist."

Had I been alone, I would have not hesitated to take her on, but if these other vampires got to Alice or Eddie first... "Well, if you _insist_." I breathed. "Let my friends go."

The girl in the grey suit gave a dainty little grimace at the words _friends_, but she released the Collins siblings from her thrall. Alice sucked in gigantic gulps of air, her eyes wide and terrified. Eddie was shaking, but he didn't take his hand out of mine.

They guided us into an alleyway, shepherding us along like sheep. At that moment, I stopped caring for myself, and started fearing for the Collins'. Eddie was gripping my hand so tightly that I fully expected him to have killed whatever circulation I had left, and Alice was grasping my other wrist so forcefully that I wouldn't be surprised if I had the shapes of her fingers indented in my skin later on.

I would_ not_ let them die because of me. That was the thought I clung to as we finally emerged into light. At some time, the girl in the grey suit had slipped away from us, and she was standing impatiently waiting for us in front of two metallic grey doors. I knew she and our guides bemoaned Eddie and Alice's lack of supernatural agility and speed, but she knew I wouldn't be _quite _so malleable if they weren't there.

The girl in the grey suit smiled coldly, and opened the doors. I gasped.

"You're kidding."

Her eyes grew colder. "You could always leave your pets behind." She pointed out frostily. I stuck out my chin in defiance.

However, both Eddie and Alice were staring down the dark well of jaggared stairs apprehensively.

"I won't let you guys fall." I said quietly, and once again the girl in the grey suit gave an expression of disgust.

After what seemed like hours, we staggered blinking into artificial light. My eyes adjusted to the light faster than either of the Collins'. I had no idea how far underground we were, and for a moment I wondered whether this place was where the myths about vampires and daylight came from.

"Well met, Jane." There was a boy in a dark suit patiently waiting for us to arrive. He gazed appraisingly at me and my two companions, but he did not show an inkling of surprise. "So. You were sent out for one, and returned with two halves as well."

The girl in the grey suit, or Jane, gazed back at the three of us, still faintly disgusted. "She would have refused to come if I had... disposed of her pets."

And without another word, Jane vanished through the door into the antechamber beyond. The boy in the dark suit followed her.

"Welcome!"

Eddie hissed, and Alice gave a startled little yelp. Even I jumped.

There was an old man coming toward us, walking with a grace that should not have been capable for such an old man. His eyes were the same red as Jane, only seemingly clouded with age. His arms were open in greeting for me, practically ignoring my companions. Behind him were two other men, one dark haired, and the other snowy white. Both of them seemed less exuberant than their excitable counterpart.

"Hello?" I offered.

"I am Aro." He laid a withered finger against his own chest. "These are my brothers, Caius and Marcus, and we are the Volturi."

_So the vampires never really left Volterra after all._

"Don't let him _touch _you." Alice hissed at me urgently.

"I know." I said dryly. I had gently probed their minds as I entered the room, so gently that I doubt any of them would have felt me. If this Aro touched me even for a fraction of a second, he would know everything there was to know about me, and about the Fawkes vampires, the skinwalkers, the treaty, the vampire hunters...

And with a thrill of fear, I discovered what they would do to those that broke the rules. Or rather, THE rule. Don't expose who you are.

"Why am I here?" I asked this council quietly.

"Outsiders hunting on our territory were banned over three thousand years ago." The dark haired one, Marcus said. His movements were almost insect-like. "You had no right to be here."

"I don't hunt." I all but whispered, but my voice managed to reach the ears of every person in the antechamber. Even that wasn't _entirely _true. Blood sung so much stronger to me now, and Chuck regularly complained that my steaks were getting bloodier and bloodier. I remembered a time from long ago when I'd only just been bitten, and I'd gone to a petting zoo in the city with friends.

I still remembered the look on that poor little lamb's face.

My determination to be human would only last for so long. I wondered for how much longer human food could adequately sustain me before I began actively seeking out... alternatives.

A member of the guard stepped forward fluidly, and my eyes focused on him. My teeth gritted together. I knew immediately that this man was a tracker, possibly the best damn tracker there had ever been. His eyes were wide, and it didn't take a genius to see that he had picked up a particularly intriguing scent.

I would have liked a lot to have been able to hide away my friends away from them, but as it was, all I could do was maintain a grip on both Alice and Eddie as the tracker circled the three of us. He dismissed Alice with a snort, and me with a shake of his head, his eyes fixed on Eddie.

Eddie's face was hard, and I knew his instincts were screaming at him to attack, but he was unable to escape my inhuman grip. The tracker held in a breath of air and I knew that all hell was about to break loose.

"He's been_ blooded_."

The assembly hall broke into flurries of different conversations, all in Italian. It was too fast for me to follow, and the only word I could pick out, mainly because it was being repeated over and over again, was _wrong._

"I don't understand." I was sincere.

Aro's look was still curious, only now his expression was slightly imbued with disgust. "You have no idea what you have done." He said slowly.

I mutely shook my head.

"You have risked the very security of our existence by exposing yourself to these... _animals_," Jane exploded. Aro shushed her, as his brothers sat in their straight-backed chairs, silent.

"Child." Aro was almost gentle now. "You have not sired anyone before this?"

"N-no..."

"There is a chemical that all vampirekind possess." He didn't sound like an excitable old man now. He sounded like someone who knew what he was on about. "When feeding, to keep the blood from congealing and the decay from poisoning us, our own blood is used like a... toxin to keep the heart pumping and the body strong and alive until we have had our fill. Or we have changed them."

"Oh." I said. "How long can they stay alive?"

"Theoretically, forever." Aro shrugged.

"No one is permitted to keep a human in a blooded state." Marcus said coldly.

I didn't like the way he said 'keep', like they we some sort of exotic pets. Glancing at Eddie, he didn't either. "Why not?"

Now Caius spoke, and although his voice was soft and fluttery, there was a definite underside of steel. "Their minds simply can't cope with the strain of being forever on the protrusion between living death and unending life." He said simply.

"They go mad." I pretended not to hear the words Eddie uttered resentfully.

"Never mind that!" Jane snarled. "_She _broke our laws and _the_ Law. Therefore they deserve to be eliminated."

"Ella!" Alice shrieked.

I was moving before the girl could catch me up in her crazy mind powers again. With my mind reading, and Alice's ability to glimpse the future, I knew every move Jane was going to make before she decided to make them. In what had to have been only seconds, I had the girl in the grey suit by her collar and slammed her against a marble pillar. Idly I hoped it wasn't one of the support pillars for the building as the centre of the pillar crumbled with how hard Jane's head cracked against it.

For a fraction of a second, I was filled with the frightening urge to lean forward and rip her throat out.

Instead, I released her.

For a moment everything was silent, and no one dared to move. New respect shone in many an eye around the hall, and judging by the hate and submissiveness in Jane's eyes, I had just become the Volturi Guard's dominant female.

Aro, Caius and Marcus watched, all with expressions akin to amusement on their faces.

"How remarkable," Aro commented idly.


	3. Mummy & Daddy

I was having a bad week. Started bad, stayed that way.

Firstly, as soon as I apparently met the approval of Aro, Marcus and Caius, I became an object of adoration among the Volturi's followers, which meant that wherever I moved in the underground bunker vampires flocked to be near me, fascinated by my alien nature and exotic features. It didn't help that they were also besotted by my human companions, reaching out to touch their clothes, hair, and warm skin. I continued to repeat my request to leave with ever-increasing urgency, but Aro in particular seemed reluctant to let us go.

We ended up spending the night in the Volturi lair, leaving Alice and Eddie wide-eyed, sleep deprived, borderline hysterical wrecks. Spending a prolonged period of time in direct proximity to a horde of monsters that would have eaten you the first chance they got would do that to a person, I guess.

"We should really be going now." I said firmly, as Alice began to openly pine for Jasper and Eddie began to look at me like a druggie that had taken a potentially lethal overdose.

"Well, then. One last drink." Aro said, offering me his glass. "To our continued… cooperation."

"No thank you." I said stiffly. And that's when the second bad thing for the day occurred.

He sloshed the drink in the cup, and some of the contents ran over the rim and over his withered fingers in dark red rivulets. The smell almost bowled me over. Suddenly the very centre of my universe was that one cup.

"Freshly procured."

…_smelled so warm, so delicious, so fragrant…_ The rational side of me screamed that if I so much as sipped the contents of the cup, my sparkling resolve would crumble into dust and I would wholeheartedly assist in the massacre of the two siblings that had been stupid enough to jet around the world to find me. My hand had almost reached out and taken the cup from him when I felt Eddie's presence beside me, anchoring me to this reality, putting steel in my backbone.

My hand dropped.

"Thank you, but no thank you." I said icily.

Aro's expression didn't change.

"How remarkable." He gazed at me curiously, but now he also afforded Eddie the same curiosity, and the same suspicion. "However, none of you are permitted to leave."

"What?" I was angry now I had broken out of the spell of the blood. Angry and preparing for a fight.

"You have broken the rules." Marcus said stiffly. "_They_ have been exposed to our culture and are a danger." He sat up straighter in his chair. "And even _you _are a danger. You are a feral, a liability, willingly placing our existence in jeopardy."

"We won't tell anyone." Alice said faintly.

"Should you slip up even once, we will be wiped out." Marcus scowled. "Even if they don't _believe_, the mob mentality of these… humans… will ensure that we are _all _eradicated."

I scowled. I could see no way to get the three of us out of this mess without the Collins' siblings becoming collateral damage. I stared at Marcus stonily, and then Alice was gripping my arm, pulling me away. Before I had a chance to object, she'd reached out and grasped Aro's hand.

"Alice!" I heard Eddie rise up, prepared to attack even though he knew he would probably die. My arms encircled his waist, holding him back in a stone grip. As much as I hated it, Alice was the only way we would ever get out of this hole in the ground.

Aro's eyes were unfocused as he slowly absorbed all that there was to know about Alice Collins and her peculiar gift. I didn't know what she had seen, but the old vampire slowly dropped her hand, staring at her.

"You are certain?"

"I have never been wrong." There was a perverse sort of pride in her voice as she said this. "Even when it appears that a future has been diverted, fate will alter around us to achieve the final outcome." She stared at me, and I couldn't keep her gaze for long, wondering what she was talking about.

His eyes were bright. "Fascinating!"

"Aro." Caius said warningly.

"Dear Caius, don't fret." Aro was almost deliriously happy. "Just think a time when we can walk in the sun without fear! And besides, just think of what these two will be able to achieve for the Volturi, when they come back to us." He smiled at me and Eddie, and we exchanged glances.

What the hell?

"Can we go now?" I asked tentatively.

"We will be monitoring you." Caius said stiffly.

"Please do remember to come back whenever you wish. It's been a delight." Aro said.

"It's been something, alright." Eddie said, an edge to his voice. Before anyone could change their minds, I grabbed my two human friends and left.

Third was when we were bunkered down in my flat, waiting for our plane to arrive, every moment waiting for the Volturi to come knocking and drag us back to hell.

Alice dropped from exhaustion on my bed. Eddie stayed conscious for slightly longer, watching the television with me on the lounge before he simply fell over sideways into the pillows, dead asleep. I sat there, wanting to touch his face, his hair, but not sure whether I should.

Finally we were on the plane, and I felt marginally better when my homeland was in sight. Chuck got me from the airport, and I could tell that he was confused and a little unnerved that I'd cut my trip so short and that Eddie and Alice were with me, but was clever enough not to ask me anything. He knew that chances are he didn't want to know.

I knew he was saving a lecture for me later, and I pitied Alice and Eddie when Dr Collins turned up at my place, tight-lipped and stony faced, to take them home.

I was lying on my bed, recharging my batteries, for not even an hour when the door was pounded on again. I heard Chuck greet someone, and a minute later Rosalie Hale threw open my door. I bolted upright. Rosalie looked livid, and I spotted Esme lurking behind her timidly.

Then the forth really bad thing happened.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She almost screamed at me. Rosalie seized my sheets out from under me and I landed on a pile on the floor. "We have to be on a plane _tonight_ if we want to make it in time."

"What? Where?" I was lost.

"The wedding!"

"That's _now_?" Clearly I'd gotten my dates mixed up. "You still… want me there?"

"I don't know anyone big enough to fit into your dress."

I glared at her icily, knowing that she wasn't being intentionally mean. Form her point of view, it was an entirely practical statement of fact. So within hours of arriving, I was leaving again. Chuck had received a last minute invite, and helped the Collins' men with the luggage. Even though I was the vampire, it was Eddie and Alice who looked like the walking dead.

Most of the flight, I toyed with the little blue box. I still hadn't opened it. I had to speak to Eddie about what was going through his head, but since we got on the plane in Italy, he hadn't so much as looked at me. It seemed that he wouldn't pay me any more attention until he needed his next fix.

I was starting to wonder whether _I _was the one jumping to conclusions.

Chuck took hold of my hand and the box. "You're making me nervous."

I gave a faint smile. "Sorry." I wound a strand of hair around my finger, knotting it. I hadn't looked in a mirror since Italy, and I knew I must have looked like a nightmare. Alice would have her work cut out for her, when she regained consciousness.

I think I was the only one of us who was fully conscious when the plane touched down. I strained up in my seat as the pilot announced we had reached Rio de Janerio.

From there, we took a yacht out to a little isle out off the coast. I was leaning against the railing, feeling the sprays of salt water splash across my face when I heard footsteps approaching me across the deck. The spicy smell immediately told me that it was Eddie.

"I thought you'd be dead to the world." The wind carried my words over my shoulder.

"Alice has her second wind." He grumped. "Don't looks so pleased, it'll be your turn soon."

My smirk faded. "Is it bad?" I asked, worried.

"Frocks, hair and makeup." He said.

"Ah." My eyes refocused, and I could see the small landmass rising up in front of the waves in front of us. It looked so peaceful, so idyllic. "Where are we?" All I'd really taken note of on the invite was that we were going to Rio.

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could feel his small grin. "This is Isle Esme."

"Isle _Esme_?"

"A gift from Carl for one of their anniversaries."

"You dad gave your mum an _island_?"

He shrugged. "We have _some _money, you know."

"That doesn't matter." I declared. I hesitated a moment. "How much money?"

Eddie laughed, and suddenly we were friends again, if not anything else.

Rosalie and Emmett had agreed on a beach wedding. In a way it was a perfect match for both of them, drawing on Emmett's casual nature and Rosalie's need for over-exposure. Ribbons and garlands of flowers were strewn everywhere, and we all were barefoot on the sand.

Alice and I were Rosalie's only bridesmaids, dressed in sheaths of red satin with a slit up the side. The gowns were strapless, and even though we'd had professional fittings, I continued to worry that my chest wouldn't provide enough support. In an absurd kind of way, it was hilarious. I had the threat of the Volturi hanging over my head along with maintaining the treaty in Fawkes, but I panicked about the possibility of my dress falling down during a walk up the aisle.

I stood beside Alice and watched as Rosalie and Emmett said _I do_ and I hoped that no one would notice the exact moment when my smile became too fixed, that my grip on my small bouquet of lilies became too tight, mashing the flower stems between my fingers.

The honeymooners had a small house on the beach, but the rest of the wedding party were camped out in an interlocking network of cottages further inland. I guessed that Esme Collins occasionally hired out her island for private functions. I found the room I was to have, and I couldn't help noticing that Eddie's was directly opposite, across a sandy walkway. Briefly, I wondered whether that idea was Rosalie's, Alice's, or Esme's.

I sighed, feeling miserable. Realising I shouldn't feel miserable only made me feel worse.

The room was beautiful, open and airy with a huge canopied bed. I could operate without sleep, but there was something just so inviting about the downy white covers and pillows. I reached up to unzip my dress when someone knocked on the door.

Swearing under my breath, I stomped to the door.

"Oh. Hi."

That's when the next bad thing happened, and I stopped counting.

Before I could say anything else, he impatiently strode into my room, arms swinging. "We need to talk,"

I had to fight to not visibly clench my teeth. I had heard those words so many times over the years that I knew that they weren't a good sign of _anything_. Eddie was over at the dresser, and before I could stop him, he carefully picked up the small blue box. His expression turned strange, like his conviction to say what he wanted to say had faded in that one minute.

"You still have it."

I felt suddenly ashamed. "I never got a chance to take it out of my bag," I whispered.

"Oh." Some of the brightness that had appeared in his blue eyes had faded.

We stood looking at each other across a gulf of misunderstanding and pain. I knew then that there was so much I wanted to say, but I had no way to go about it. So instead I said something even stupider.

"D'you mind unzipping me?" I asked lamely. "I'd ask Alice, but Jasper keeps looking at me like I'm going to steal her again."

"Well," Eddie said softly. "When I found out what was wrong with me, and Alice had her vision, we sort of... Well, Alice broke me out."

I almost broke into hysterical giggles, picturing dainty Alice doing a Steve McQueen from the _Great Escape_. Then everything else I was going to say broke into a million fragments as Eddie's warm fingers were suddenly against my much cooler skin, moving over my shoulders as he gathered up my hair and gently drew the zip down my back.

I was thinking that I should protest before things went too far, but then Eddie bent down to touch his lips softly to each area of exposed skin and I burst into flame.

Before I really thought of what we were doing, I'd turned and pulled him hard to me, crushing my lips to his. Eddie smiled lazily against my mouth, pressing me up against the wall, his hands sliding the satin down my body. I hitched a leg over his hip as his lips burned a path down my throat and over my chest, and I was only a hair's breadth away from tearing his clothes off with my teeth, when-

Someone gave a burble of laughter.

Instantly the passion was dead.

The two of us froze guiltily. Whatever it was giggled again, high and childish. Eddie carefully righted me on the floor as we both turned our heads slowly toward the bathroom door. "What was that?"

"My bags were left at the door. I haven't had the chance to look around yet." I hissed.

"Why are we whispering?"

"It seems appropriate." I poked him in the shoulder. "Go have a look."

"What? Why me?"

"Hel-_lo _? Not exactly dressed for company, here." I shimmied back into my dress as Eddie crossed the polished floorboards to the bathroom door. I saw him steeling himself, and then he stuck his head around the door.

He stared for a few long minutes as whatever it was gave a delighted noise of greeting, and something happened that I never expected.

Eddie's jaw dropped and his eyes almost bugged out of his head. After a moment he backed away, carefully closing the door behind him.

"What? What is it?" I took his arm in a steel grip. He blinked at me a couple of times, snapping himself back to reality.

"It's in your bathtub." He said faintly. "You should... take a look."

"What is it?" He shook his head wordlessly and I scowled at him, padding across the floor to the door. Holding my dress on with one hand, I reached out for the doorknob, suddenly feeling apprehensive despite myself. Drawing myself up straighter, I stepped into the bathroom.

My jaw dropped, and I stepped back, closing the door. I leant against the wall, staring wide-eyed at Eddie.

"There is a_ baby_ in my bath." I hissed.

"No _shit_, Sherlock." He retorted.

I felt Eddie's breath stirring my hair as we both peered back into the bathroom. The baby had its chubby hands on the rim of the tub, staring at our antics with amusement, eyes wide and shining.

"What should we do?"

"Maybe we should go in there and pick it up."

"Who would just leave a _baby_ lying around?"

"We should get one of the others."

"Don't be a wuss, Ed." Pursing my lips, I slipped past him and back into the bathroom, the tiles slick against my bare feet. I carefully stepped up to the tub, and looked down.

The child burbled up at me, and I knelt down by the side of the tub. The baby was sitting on a clean blanket someone had placed in the bottom of the bath.

"You're a little girl," I breathed. I reached a hand tentatively down and touched her soft black curls. She smiled up at me as I touched her face softly. Her fine porcelain skin was even colder than my own and I frowned at her strangely colourless eyes. "Who would have left you here, sweetie?" I asked, as her hand curled around my finger.

Eddie knelt down beside me on the tiles, and the little girl cooed at him as he curled his large hand around her tiny head. I suddenly feared for her as his expression tightened into an angry mask. Rising fluidly to his feet, he grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

The little girl gave a reluctant whimper as she lost her grip on me, and her bottom lip quivered as her eyes filled with tears.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded of Eddie. "There is a little girl in there that needs our help, and-"

Eddie hissed through his teeth, his eyes narrowed to slits. The expression was achingly familiar, as it was the same one he wore when he'd confronted me with the news that he knew I was a vampire. I flinched back instinctively.

"That... _thing _in there isn't a baby." He growled. "It's a demon."


	4. The Plight of DB

"She's a _demon_, Ella!"

"In case you haven't noticed, so am _I_, Edward!" I snapped right back. "Or did you forget that bit while you were trying to get into my pants?"

Eddie reeled back slightly like I'd slapped him. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he left the room. I stared after him, not sure what I was thinking.

It just wasn't fair that the moment we both took that tentative step into uncharted waters, something always seemed to happen to push us back to square one.

I sat with the baby, thinking, while Eddie went out to pound on the doors of his family and my dad. In my head, I kept seeing Eddie's face when he first saw me at the cafeteria, and then during biology. The same disgust was still there whenever he looked at the child.

I could read minds and Alice could see the future. Could Eddie tell who was a demon and who wasn't?

The little demon baby giggled as I tweaked her nose, leaning my chin on the rim of the bathtub. My face was blank as I studied her, wondering how, why, she had been left behind. What motivation would there have been?

Was it possible that whoever was here before didn't have the stomach to dispose of her themselves and had left her in my room in the hope that I could not control my bloodlust?

Or did they anticipate that sooner or later Eddie Collins would make his way into my bedroom and feel the urge to snuff her small life out? The thought made me shiver. I really didn't need another supernatural being hunting me down right at this moment.

The delighted smile that came over the baby girl's face when Eddie opened the door took both of us by surprise. The rest of the family filed into my room, Chuck lurking in the back. Before I could object, Eddie bent down and swept the little demon baby into his arms.

"Come on." He shifted her onto his hip and offered me a hand to pull me to my feet.

The little girl was amazingly reluctant to release Eddie when he tried to set her down on the lounge, grabbing a lock of hair over his right eye and refusing to let go. Eventually he ceased trying to remove her and sat her on his knee, a suffering expression on his face.

The Collins family, bar Rosalie and Emmett, were silent, staring at the little demon baby who seemed absolutely fascinated with Eddie's much larger and warmer hands.

My dad was actually the first person to move, his moustache twitching. His exposure to the supernatural hadn't exactly desensitised him to it, but there was definitely added steel to his spine. In that moment, I absolutely adored him, and saw that becoming a vampire had only brought to the forefront the person I had always been, the person that he had helped make.

Chuck knelt down on the floor before her, and gazed into the child's clear eyes. "Hello, small one." He said quietly. "And where did you come from, then?"

I was gnawing on my liver as the girl reached out two chubby hands to Chuck's face. She hesitated only millimetres away from grazing Chuck's grizzled cheeks, as if gauging his reaction, and then pressed her hands firmly against his face.

I was prepared to spring forward when his eyes lost their focus and his mouth dropped into an 'o' of surprise. "Dad!"

Still in the middle of his haze, he held up a hand, stopping me in the middle of my tracks. "Stay there." It was a whisper. I was aware of Carl behind me, also prepared to rip the demon from my father. After a very long minute, the girl's hands dropped, an anxious look on her face as she waited for my dad's reaction.

"Chuck?" I asked nervously. His hand slowly rose to stroke his nose, his expression not quite comprehending what had just happened to it. "Chuck, what did the... _it_ do?"

"I asked where she came from." He said in a hushed voice, which was definitely not like my dad. "And she showed me."

That was about when Alice left the room. A split second later, Jasper was off after her. I stared after them, and back down to the demon. I felt Esme's gentle hand land on my shoulder and give a reassuring squeeze, but I did not look at her. Instead, my eyes were on Eddie, whose expression was slowly changing into something reluctantly paternal. I could see the shadow of pain in his blue eyes, and knew he was remembering the last time he had ever sat on his father's lap, before an unnamed vampire had torn his throat out.

"How did she show you, Chuck?" Carl asked in that no-nonsense way of his.

"It was like pictures in my head." Chuck's voice was gathering strength now. He grasped the girl's tiny hands in his huge ones. "Oh, you poor girl."

"Chuck?" Esme asked, a small quaver to her voice. When Chuck looked up, his eyes were anguished.

"We're all in danger." He said tonelessly. "Very real danger."

"What?"

The child reached up and softly touched Eddie's face. His expression froze, his eyes darting like he was about to drop the child like a bundle of burning rags. The girl dropped her hand, waiting anxiously.

He didn't speak, his expression only becoming more anxious.

We all stared. I know I defiantly did. He rose to his feet, slinging the demon baby up with him. In three steps I was standing with him. "We need to get back to Fawkes." He said firmly, a general marshalling his troops. "We are better equipped to protect ourselves there."

"Protect ourselves from _what_?" I demanded.

I knew that dark, angry gaze. What I didn't recognise was the fear in his eyes. The terror didn't look right there. He was a hunter; he was supposed to make the things that go 'bump' in the night want to go and hide. I'd never seen him scared before, even when he almost died.

The little demon baby reached out to me, eyes questioning, too much knowledge in her gaze, too much _understanding_. She was so aware of her surroundings and what was going on that it seemed... _wrong_.

As she made grasping motions for me with her fists, I sighed. "Well, you're probably one of the only ones that _haven't _groped me in the last fortnight," I closed my eyes as her tiny hands made contact with my cold skin. Her hands were _definitely _colder than I was, and I wondered, briefly, how that was possible.

Then it was pure sensory overload.

It took a moment to orient myself, and then I realised that I was seeing things through the eyes of the baby. I _was _the baby.

That was all she had ever been known as: the Baby.

She remembered coming awake in her mother's womb. Oh, how she had loved her mother! She remembered the first time that her father had laid his hands over her in her mother's stomach. The chill of his touch bit right through her, but she could tell that he loved her as unconditionally as her mother.

In that one instant, she knew that everything would be alright.

And then I was being born. I remembered trying so hard not to hurt my mother, but it was of no use. The moment I held myself still for her was the moment I began to suffocate. It was impossible.

I remembered my birth. Mother was so pale and so still, and I watched my father bite her in a last ditch attempt to save her life. I willed him success with every bone in my little body.

In time, she rejoined us, not broken and twisted, but strong and beautiful. And I was complete.

For a time, everything was perfect, just the three of us.

_And then-_

The baby girl's hands dropped, and she hugged her arms around her as if she was holding her spirit together. I would not have been able to stand having so much awareness at such a young age. The ability to understand what was going on around her, but unable to change a thing.

I looked at her levelly and she stared back at me, unafraid. Hesitant, she reached out for my face again.

I was back in her memories.

An unearthly beautiful woman was holding me in a cool embrace. I looked up at her as her thick dark hair hid us both, falling in waves to frame her porcelain features. There were great dark circles underneath her eyes, which glowed a piercing amber. I knew those eyes. There were similar ones that looked out at me when I glanced in the bathroom mirror each morning.

_The baby wasn't afraid of me because I reminded her of her mother._

"_I need you to pay attention." _The mother said in a chiming voice. _"You must show what I am about to say to the people who find you."_

The baby gurgled. I narrowed my eyes.

The mother sighed. _"If my small one is showing you this," _She began. _"It means that we were unable to return. Either it is too dangerous, or..." _She didn't need to finish the sentence._ "I am sending her to a place where I know she will receive protection. A safe place, with good people." _She sighed. _"Right now, you are probably debating how dangerous she is; and I'll answer you. My baby would never harm a person. Now. And if she continues to be raised with the proper principles, she never will._

"_However, the moment she was born, he found her. He told us that she was dangerous, but in reality she was powerful, and he wanted her to complete his collection. To shape her into a weapon."_

I could only think of one vampire that was a _collector._

"_Hide her until she is old enough to make her own ties with the world. If she leaves to go with him, it is her choice. But until then, I beg you not to let him make my baby into a murderer."_

Suddenly the mother thrust the baby into the arms of somebody waiting close by._ "They're here! Go!"_

And everything dissolved into screaming, crashing, the swish of long black cloaks and blood red eyes.

_And then she was here, in Mother's safe place._

Staring up into the bewildered faces of myself and Eddie.

I broke contact this time, trying to comprehend. The one thing I was certain of was that the Volturi had sterilised the demon baby's family. Eradicated them. Making this child a fugitive.

"How many people outside of Fawkes know you're vampire hunters?" I asked Eddie, trying to keep my voice level.

His arms seemed to automatically tighten on the baby. "We never told anyone who didn't need to know."

"You told me, though."

"Yes, but if you ever ratted me out, you'd have to explain the bit about _you_ being a vampire. In which case, the government would be dissecting you before you turned around twice." Eddie pointed out. "But I can't think of who..."

And the baby's hands were on my face again, showing me more, showing me something she hadn't shown Eddie.

It was distorted and almost sepia-like, and I knew that this time I was looking at somebody else's memories.

_It was a girl, not that much younger than I was when I became a vampire. There were Christmas decorations festooning the streets and holiday greetings sparkling from each shop window she walked past, gazing distractedly into each one. It took me a moment to spot the similarities between her face and that of the beautiful vampire._

_She glanced to her side, and I gasped aloud as I saw the boy walking casually beside her. He was younger, and his hair was longer, but there was no mistaking those dark blue eyes. Eddie!_

_They were laughing about something and he slipped his arm around her shoulder._

_Mamma's safe place. _The little girl thought to me, looking into my eyes.

"Ella?" Eddie asked. I didn't know what to say.

How do you verbalise the thought that the cute little abandoned orphan was the demon offspring of your sometimes-boyfriend's ex?

"What do we call her?" Esme asked quietly.

The little demon touched both my and Eddie's faces. _Baby, _she said.

"Dee... bee." Eddie said slowly.

"DB?" I asked sceptically. _Demon Baby? Oh my god. _The baby giggled, and clapped her hands approvingly.

"Have _you _got anything?"

Yeah, I didn't. Leaving Eddie with DB, I crossed the room to retrieve my phone. I had the feeling that we were going to need reinforcements, no matter how good the Collins' were.

The call connected.

"_Hello?"_

"Inez? I've got a problem."


	5. The Secret Life of Chuck

I watched as Inez and her guard stealthily approached the front door. Inez's escort was composed solely of those men and women that were the undead versions of vegetarians. All that meant was that they refrained from eating people outright, relying on the native population of cute furry animals instead.

I'd even heard stories of some older vampires who had taught themselves to only need to feed on blood once every fifty years or so, but I suspect most of that was legend.

Inez was the only vampire, excluding yours truly, that Esme felt comfortable having in her home. In a way the attitude was quite absurd when one considered that the innocent-looking girl was probably the most dangerous of us all. After all, who would really be heartless enough to refuse entry to a lost little child?

Carl rose to answer the door. Eddie and I stood up, DB clinging to Eddie's legs.

Inez was standing on the doorstep, a perfect cherubic statue. Instead of her usual conservative white dress and flats, she was in blue jeans and boots, her perfect bronze locks twisted into a severe knot at the back of her head. A thick belt hung around her tiny waist, supporting a knife as long as her arm and several suspect-looking canisters.

_Let's get ready to rum-ble..._ Clearly she had heard _'I have a problem'_ so many times over the years that she had now boiled the phrase down to _'we have a crisis of monumental proportions'_.

"Come in, Inez." Carl said cordially, if somewhat stiffly.

Over by the stairs, I registered Jasper shift restlessly. Although the rest of the family tolerated and even liked the childlike vampire, something about her always seemed to set Jasper on edge. I suppose I could have just read his mind, but the way his mood abruptly shifted each time he came in contact with her told me that I probably didn't want to know.

Inez inclined her head politely to the room of humans, pulled a small face, and walked into the room. I was the only one that noticed as the little vampire stopped breathing, cutting off her sense of smell. She was not the one to take chances.

"Show me the child." She demanded impetuously, and DB flinched back against Eddie, pulling at a hole in his jeans. Unconsciously his hand dropped to rest on her dark curls, and the contact seemed to calm her somewhat.

The family seemed to close in around her without visibly moving. Inez stood her ground, unmoved by the show of solidarity. She knew that even the Collins family weren't reckless enough to kill the one person holding the leash on the Fawkes vampire population.

"I need to asses her to see why the Volturi want her eliminated." She said, speaking to Rosalie. The blonde's face was stony, but she stepped aside to let Inez study mine and Eddie's strange little demon foundling.

Inez looked at the little perfect child. DB had reached the stage where she could actually stand for a few minutes before she would fall back onto her bum and she took an unsteady step forward.

It didn't worry me how much the child had grown in a short space of time. I had photos that showed that when I reached eighteen months I had simply sprouted. A lot of my childhood was spent barefoot as my darling mother refused to constantly buy me new shoes.

DB stood wobbling in front of Inez as the diminutive vampire looked her over. Slowly DB reached out a hand, and hesitated, as if asking permission.

"It's how she speaks." Eddie supplied quietly.

We all watched in silence as DB explained herself to Inez. I saw Inez's face tighten as she saw the black cloaks and red eyes of the Volturi. Our story was vindicated.

"Inez?" I asked.

"Yes." She said, and in that one word she somehow managed to confirm all of my fears. The dangerous glint in her eyes turned the little girl facade into something demonic. I could almost see the cogs whirring in her brain.

"Maybe you should share what you're thinking." Esme said softly. Inez stepped back and clambered up onto Esme's creamy white lounge. Alice wordlessly offered a hand to help her up, which the little vampire dismissed with a small toss of her head. Eddie and I sat back down, DB climbing up my leg to sit between us. A part of my brain panicked at how natural it felt.

"The Volturi are the oldest vampire clan that I am aware of."

At the mention of the vampire royalty, Eddie reached for my hand. Although he would do anything for his adoptive family, which now included me, my dad and little DB, he was still scared stiff.

"Over time, they evolved into... police is probably the best word. They protected the secrecy of our existence."

"So too many mysterious murders don't incite a witch hunt?" My father raised an eyebrow. I stared at him. His lack of concern about all things supernatural was beginning to worry me.

"Correct." Inez chirped. "Very few beyond this town have adopted the... alternative lifestyle that we have." She sounded so pious about the whole human-blood-substitute thing. I wondered if she'd be hurt if I hit her or whether my fist would simply shatter against her marble face.

Inez may have been physically smaller, but her awareness loomed large in my consciousness, shouting at me to shut up and do what I was told.

I was becoming part of the pack, and I didn't like it.

"The Volturi have their laws, which they expect us to obey. Refusal to do so has ended in... sterilisation." I really didn't like the sound of that. "That's why it still surprises me that _you_ are still alive."

Eddie blinked.

"You have vampire blood in you, but your heart still beats."

"The Volturi said _blooded_." _In preparation for being eaten._

"The creation of such Halflings is expressly forbidden." Inez said sterly. "Humans are weak in body and mind, and sooner or later that mind is no longer able to bear the strain of the vampire. With explosive, catastrophic results."

I realised that Inez's hovering and unsolicited advice on our relationship was her way of keeping an eye on Eddie, making sure he didn't suddenly snap and start indiscriminately killing people. The thought made me queasy.

"In unpredictability and viciousness, the Halflings are only eclipsed by the Immortal Children."

"The what now?" Emmett asked.

"Long ago, before I was even born, there was an epidemic among the vampire underground. This plague was the Immortal Children, children sired by the vampire."

Everyone in the room shuddered or winced.

"The problem was that the child was frozen at whatever developmental stage they were at while alive. Mentally, they ceased to mature, forever children looking for play."

I gnashed my teeth. I couldn't think of a monster more terrifying than a child with the powers of the supernatural as toys.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Emmett said slowly. "But aren't you kind of an Immortal Child? I mean, you speak like Esme's mother, but..." He trailed off, but we all knew what she was talking about. Inez was hardly the mental equivalent of an eight year old girl.

"I am a prodigy." Inez said without a hint of pride. "My intellectual capabilities were never what one would call normal. However, I was born in an age where to be female was a greater handicap than being bereft of a limb." She gave a thin sneer.

"How did you escape the Volturi, then?" I asked curiously.

"My sire and the clan gathered together witnesses to testify that I was capable of mental growth." She replied. "I suppose I should count myself lucky that Aro was the first to accost us. Aro is... curious. The thought of an Immortal Child that could mentally mature intrigued him."

I glanced at Alice, who shook her head slightly. My lips thinned. Aro would not be the first to find us this time.

"So we gather witnesses." I said firmly.

"What if there's not enough time? What if they don't want to listen?" Rosalie asked.

"Then we make them." Jasper said in a frighteningly calm voice.

* * *

We were soon to find out that DB tended to scream if we left her in a room by herself for what she felt was too long. She was only truly calm when she was snuggling up to my side or toddling along behind Eddie. The girl had some serious abandonment issues, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to tackle that yet.

It was hardly her fault, but DB made me think again of what I had lost. As a vampire I would never have to worry about grey hair and lines. I would never have to look in the mirror and wonder who was the old lady wearing my jeans. I'd never have children of my own.

I had a whole family now, but though they could spend a lifetime with me, I would never be able to spend mine with theirs. _'Til death do they part _had taken on a whole new meaning for me.

As the Collins' family fragmented to search for witnesses, I spent time with my dad. It was like I had found my place only for Fawkes to fall down around my ears.

Maybe I was cursed.

I watched the people walking past the window of the little cafe. They were laughing, smiling, no idea of the shadow about to descend. I turned back to my dad.

Chuck seemed perfectly calm as he sipped his coffee, still in uniform. Glancing at the pistol at his hip, I made a mental note to ask Eddie what degree of damage a gun could do to the supernatural. Even if a bullet couldn't kill them, it was bound to hurt like hell.

I looked up to see Chuck regarding me with equal interest.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Just looking at how much you've changed."

I picked up my spoon and peered at my perfectly symmetrical pale reflection. I poked at one of my razor sharp canines. Even my hair and eyes had changed. Old Ella was gone. I scowled.

I'd rather be able to turn into a bat.

"I miss the old me."

"You'll be fine, kid." He reassured me gruffly.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"You know what I'm talking about." I said. "You regularly hang out with those of the fang-ed persuasion, even when they look at you like you're a Chuckie-burger. Doesn't that give you the heebie-jeebies? Even a little bit?"

Chuck carefully set his cup aside and rubbed the bristles on his chin. "I suppose I've always known. One way or another."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Inez spent a lot of time at my mother's house when I was small."

I wasn't expecting that. "You what?"I remembered meeting Grandma Swain, a dotty blue-haired lady that was entirely too fond of her cats.

"I just assumed that Mum must have known her parents, but I got older and realised that my friend wasn't. She was frozen." Chuck tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "Later I found out that my mother had been friends with her when _she _was a kid."

"So Inez is the Swain family vampire?" I asked. Chuck shrugged. That was when the door banged open.

"_There_ you are!" Alice stood beaming at us, but my dad and I realised immediately that it wasn't her natural exuberance.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Chuck asked. He adored Alice. Everybody adored Alice. I could sense Jasper lurking out on the street beyond.

"No, actually, Chuck." Alice squeezed herself onto the small bench seat beside me. "I need a favour."

Me and Dad exchanged glances. A Collins was asking us for a favour?

"What's wrong?"

"Can I stay at your place for a while?" Alice pleaded with her eyes.

"Why?" Chuck asked, immediately suspicious. She squirmed a little under his 'father' gaze.

"I..."

I decided it was time to put Chuck's tolerance of the supernatural to the test. "Alice has visions." I said quickly.

She looked guilty. "But not... since DB."

"What?"

"When you and Eddie found her, your futures just... stopped. When any of you are around her, you disappear." Alice said. "I can't get anything clear around her, and I need to know what to do." She gazed at Chuck. "I can't see anything at home. Please?"

"What does your father say about this?" He asked sternly.

"He believes in what I have."

My father kept up the tough facade for a couple more minutes before he crumbled.

"You can move some stuff in tonight." He said, defeated. "Is that Jasper coming with you?"

Alice gave a noncommittal shrug. "Thanks, Chuck."

And as soon as she had blown in, she was gone again, leaving both of us Swains looking at each other.

"Ella?"

"Dad?"

"There's something I think we need to do. Will you come with me?"

"Sure, I guess." I blinked. "What do _we _need to do?"

Chuck paid the bill, and turned back to me. His grin made him look years younger, and the reckless twinkle in his eyes I recognised as the same one I had.

"We'll let the Collinses worry about getting some human witnesses. We'll work on the non-human ones."

"What are you talking about, Chuck?"

"Have you met a skinwalker, Ella?"


	6. Sam I Am

**AN: One or two chapters left. Whew.**

**If you look _real _close, the main baddie is revealed here.**

* * *

Chuck was taking us to the edge of the reservation. I was as nervous as hell. Even though the Council and I regularly exchanged rather one-sided communications with the skinwalkers, I had never actually met one. Well, there _was _Jack Black and his father Bill, but I doubted the wheelchair-bound Mr Black or the scrawny Jack could be real threats.

The police car rumbled along the dirt road, attracting strange stares. I got the feeling that the only time this community saw the police was when someone was being arrested. My dad didn't seem at all worried, even whistling a small tune before pulling up in front of a beaten little weatherboard house with a wide porch that looked like it had seen better days.

"Come on." Chuck got out of the car and hoisted up his gun belt. I grinned at his enthusiasm.

"Where are we?"

"Bill Black's house. You probably wouldn't remember, but I brought you here a couple of years ago."

"Ah. During the cricket season?" I asked smoothly. Chuck reddened slightly. Nothing got between him and his cricket. I scrutinised his middle-age paunch, receding hairline and slightly shabby moustache. Nothing about him made you think that this was a man that had spent his whole life surrounded by monsters.

But if the Fawkes treaty collapsed, which side would my dad be on? Vampires, with me, or skinwalkers, with his friends?

That was when the screen door opened.

"Ella!"

I can't say that I was prepared for the enthusiasm with which I was received. From the doorway Bill smiled politely, but Jack leapt off the edge of the veranda, wrapping me in a bone-cracking hug.

"Hi, Jack." I laughed, untangling myself from his long arms. In the months since my prom and graduation, Jack had sprouted. He now stood a foot taller than Eddie and was wider in the shoulders than Emmett. Even though his manner was playful, I could feel the coiled strength in his grip.

"Wow." I said. "You've... grown up." _And up, and up..._

Jack grinned. I was baffled as to what I had done to deserve this level of eagerness. Looking into his brown, grinning face, I suddenly thought of a puppy running up to provoke a snake.

Behind us, Chuck and Bill seemed to have reverted to the mental age of twelve. It took both of them a moment to realise that Jack and I were staring at them.

"We had a purpose to this expedition." I reminded my father.

"Heh." Chuck raked a hand through his hair, looking abashed. However, before he could speak, Bill looked up at me.

"What can we do for you?" I looked into his guarded, black eyes, and I couldn't help but remember that this was the man that tried to get me to stop seeing Eddie.

"We need the tribe's help." I said softly.

Bill pursed his lips. "Are you here for yourself or as the vampire spokesman?" He asked.

Neither me or Chuck bothered to answer.

"We need to talk to Sam." My dad said.

Sam. I had heard that name more than once during negotiations, and heard the level of respect the native messengers had reserved for him. It seemed impossible, but I wondered if this Sam was as large or imposing as little Jack had become.

"Sam's out." Jack said. "Dad, they can come to with us. Sam and Em will be there."

"Billy." Chuck said. "This is really important. Life-or-death important."

Bill snorted. "I know you, Chuck. I know you're prone to exaggeration."

"Not this time."

Bill scowled again as Jack seized my wrist, beginning to drag me away. "I'm sure Ella and her father have somewhere else to be."

"No, not really." Chuck shrugged. Following Jack's lead, my dad took Bill's wheelchair handles and pushed him down to the path, close, but not so close that the adults could hear our hushed conversation.

"Where are we going?" I hissed.

"Shush." Jack dragged me out of earshot before speaking. "My dad's... got a bit of a mad on for you lot." He grinned. "We're going to a tribal meeting."

It amazed me the ease of how Jack admitted to the second life that was superimposed underneath our daily routine. It reminded me of how Dad handled the things he couldn't explain rationally.

We settled into a circle around a massive fire. I felt like a beacon, sitting among these rough, dark-skinned people. More than one person glanced my way, curiously examining my shiny, shiny hair and flawless pale features, diverting their eyes as soon as I looked up.

I sat next to Jack. His gaze seemed more curious than anything else. The sun was sinking down over the horizon, casting orange and pink ribbons hurtling across the sky. I sighed, momentarily wishing that the guy beside me was someone else.

"So."

"So?"

"How you been?"

I shrugged. "About the usual. Once you get past the first life threatening situation, it all gets a little boring."

He smirked.

"So you're what? A shapeshifter?" I questioned quietly, thinking of all the information I had mentally compiled on the lore of skinwalkers. Jack grinned again.

"Sort of."

"So what's the story with this Sam guy?" I asked.

I looked around the circle. Some of the faces I recognised from around Fawkes, but most I didn't. Still, with the ease that Chuck sat and joked with Bill and some of his other friends, I was fairly certain that no one was about to jump me and try to cut off my head.

Of course, I could have always been mistaken.

Jack looked like he was about to answer when I was tapped on the shoulder. I looked up and came nose to nose with the black, ferocious eyes of a girl with short, dark hair.

"Ella Swain?"

"Yeah?"

Jack groaned. "Lara, not _now_."

"No, I've got something to tell Ella." I didn't like the way she drew out my name. I carefully rose to my feet.

"Who're you?"

"Lara Stillwater." Lara stuck out her chin like she expected me to recognise the name. Jack tried to position himself between us.

"I've wanted to meet you for _such _a long time."

"Lara." Jack said warningly.

"Well, now you have." I said icily, and made to turn away.

Faster than I expected, Lara Stillwater lunged forward, her fingers digging into my upper arm, jerking me to a stop.

"Don't you care what you've done?" She spat. "You come back here and go back to _him_ like nothing's ever happened? Like everything's supposed to be forgiven? Don't you care about how much you hurt _him_?"

An icy fist closed around my heart. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know who!" She spat. "You... You just took off and left him behind without even a proper explanation and – and –" She threw her arms up in the air. "God, I'm not sure who I should be angry with. You, making him practically catatonic for _weeks_, or him taking you back!" Her hands curled into claws, angry colour in her cheeks. Before either Jack or I could say anything else, she spun on her heel and marched away.

I saw my dad glance at me across the flames. I stared after Lara Stillwater. "What the hell was that?" I demanded.

Jack sat back down. "While you were gone, your bloke came up to the reserve a few times to go abseiling and things. Extreme sports stuff, get the adrenaline running. At the garage, him and Lara got... _friendly_, and he told her everything."

"Ah."

Jack nodded. "With you out of the picture, I guess she thought she had a chance."

"Ah." I said again. "How do you know that?"

"We sort of... can hear each other's thoughts." He confessed. I crouched down beside him. "When we're in... our other skins." He grimaced.

"So Eddie was here? He talked about me? What else did he say?"

Jack gave me a disparaging look. "Well, we had a chat about undying love. And then we talked about feelings and discussed our favourite boy bands."

He rolled his eyes at me.

Bill clearing his throat caught our attention, and I settled down, my eyes on the elders. He only began to speak when a tall, lithely muscled woman with cropped black hair had assumed her place. He was speaking, reciting a legend of the native people of Fawkes. I made myself pay attention.

"...Burnu was a seventh son of a seventh son, when magic counted for much more than it does today. One day while he was hunting, he saw an eagle in the sky, the tribe's spirit totem. As he gazed up, the eagle spoke to him, and Burnu knew he was speaking to one of the spirit ancestors. The spirit ancestor asked Burnu to come fly with him.

"Burnu explained that he could not, and the spirit ancestor asked why. Burnu said he would fall.

"The spirit ancestor looked at Burnu and said that if he feared falling, then he should be still until the end of time. And so Burnu cast off his weapons and joined the spirit ancestor in the sky. It was many long years before he returned to the tribe, and when he changed back to the first skin, time had indeed stood still. From then on, the children of Burnu have been able to walk in the skins of others."

Funnily enough, I understood the moral. If you were afraid to fall, how were you to fly?

Bill gave a short, sharp nod.

"Many generations passed. The descendants of Burnu came to the head of the tribe. The many times grandson of Burnu was a child of the Dreaming, though he had come to ignore the gifts he had been bestowed. Then the cold ones came."

I was aware of heads turning towards me, but I ignored the attention.

"There was much bloodshed as the warriors of the grandson and the cold ones came together in battle. The grandson and his brothers and sisters faced the Cold Ones with all the might of their spirit totems. The white settlers in between that had no knowledge of this hidden war suffered the greatest. And then the one called Harker came.

"Harker was on the side of the innocent. He was not a warrior or a murderer, but a cunning strategist. He brought Burnu's grandson to meet the leader of the Cold Ones, a girl-child with much wisdom behind her eyes."

I sat up a little straighter, wondering. _Inez?_

"That day, a pact was made. Neither would do harm to the other while there was no bad blood between them."

"And should there come a time when the grandchildren of Burnu clash against the Cold Ones who find shelter among our trees, Harker will come back and raze us all to the ground." The woman with the cropped hair said coolly. In one fluid movement, she stood and turned away from the fire.

Several of those around the fire took her sharp movements as a silent signal, and quietly departed the party to follow her. I found myself once again being dragged by Jack as my father stayed where he was at Bill's side.

Only when we were safely enveloped in the trees and creepers did she speak.

"You should take your pet home." The woman said flatly to Jack. I bristled and Jack scowled. The woman didn't seem to notice, sniffing the air. "They're getting closer."

"Who are?" I couldn't help myself asking.

"The Cold Ones." A man growled. His fingers brushed against the woman's arm, seemingly by accident. He turned to me and I recoiled as I saw his face.

Angry slashes scarred one side of his handsome face, drawing lines down his neck and underneath his shirt. Jack prodded me forward.

"This is Emlin." He said, as though we were all just meeting up down the street. He nodded his head to the woman.

"_That's _Sam."

I'm not ashamed to say that my mouth dropped open right then. I had seen how everybody deferred to her, but had thought nothing of it at the time.

"The ones that are coming aren't like us." I said. "_We _can't take them on our own. And neither can you."

Sam folded her arms, looking sceptical. "We've managed to look after ourselves pretty well for a while now, kid."

I took a step forward, and was aware of the pack closing in around me, squeezing off my avenues of escape. "These guys, they aren't some ghost from a story. They're old and they know what they're doing, and once they've eliminated me and my friends, they won't stop there. The wound will be cauterised."

Sam exchanged another look with Emlin. He lowered his eyebrows and she raised her head slightly, communicating silently.

"It's time for a new treaty." I said. "My friends and I are trying to work out a way where nobody gets killed, but there's always that possibility. I know what the Cold Ones want, and..."

I trailed off, not sure what else to say. I was preparing to risk the lives of people I didn't even know.

"You're going to fight them." Emlin said this rather tonelessly, and I glanced at his scars.

"If it comes to that." I said flatly. "There is a child under my protection that they want, and they have gone so far as to say she is a threat so that there may be others hunting her, hoping that they'll get a reward." I had no idea whether this was the case, but it sounded like a likely scenario.

"Believe it or not, but we are trying to resolve this peacefully." _Resolve this peacefully. _I sounded like my old maths teacher. Judging by her look, clearly Sam wasn't buying what I was selling either.

"Who're we up against?" One of the younger guys asked.

"The Volturi."

A collective shiver passed through the skinwalkers, almost as if they were the same organism. Sam exchanged another look with Emlin before turning back to me.

"You have only managed to get this far because of your father." Her husky voice had turned into a low growl, and I gulped. "Don't push your luck much further."

"Please, just send one or two of your people to meet with us. And then make a decision." I begged. It felt odd. I'd never begged for anything before in my life.

"Meet on vampire territory, I suppose?"

"No. She is... on the Collins' land." Everyone _else _seemed to know that the Collinses were vampire hunters, so I assumed Sam and her pack did too. As it was, I spotted Emlin give a sharp nod.

"No-man's land." He reminded Sam quietly. Sam looked me over, analysing me.

"Alright." Was all she said.

That was the firmest allegiance I managed to make that night. From there, Jack and his Neanderthal buddies swiftly initiated me as one of the boys, which did leave me kind of dejected. I mean, all Jack's mates were good looking guys, and I still hadn't quite figured out whether me and Eddie were back on or not. I wasn't too sure that groping each other after a wedding constituted making up.

"So, what did you think of 'that Sam guy'?" Jack asked, grinning. I would have kicked him in the shins, but for all I knew, I'd break his leg.

"She's your leader?"

"Well, not at first."

I looked at him curiously, and he elaborated. "_Emlin _was our first pack leader."

I hadn't been expecting _that_. "What happened?"

Jack shrugged. "Got to a stage where he wanted out. Decided to be Mr Normal Guy. And then Sam came on the scene and rocked his world." He laughed a little sourly. "The first skin is the hardest to control." I thought of Emlin's scars, and how Sam must hate herself every time she looked into his eyes.

We sat staring into the fire a moment longer.

"So." Jack said. "How does it work?"

"How does what work?"

"A vampire gal dating an ordinary guy. What happens if you give him a love bite?"

I punched his shoulder as he fell away laughing.

* * *

I was dreaming again.

I was running back though the bush on the edge of the native's reservation. I kept hearing Alice's warning echoing around my head, bouncing through the trees.

_He's coming, he's coming, he's coming. _Realisation hit me that now there would always be something coming for me. When I became a vampire, someone also painted a massive target on my forehead.

Suddenly I was back in the underground lair of the Volturi. It was probably just my imagination, but I was certain at that moment that I could hear my heart pounding. Jane was staring at me, thoughtful. Aro whirled around in circles dreamily and Marcus said it was none of my business.

I saw Caius offer me his withered, ancient hand, DB snapping at his ankles like a dog. Behind him on one of the high-backed thrones sat Eddie, a leg cocked up casually over the arm of the chair as he swirled something around in his jewel encrusted goblet. Wordlessly he raised the cup in a toast to me.

I saw hoods and flaming red eyes, edging closer. Somewhere the beautiful vampire woman screamed, and a chorus of howls took up her note of anguish. I saw Fawkes burn, and-

_I woke up._

My hand stole up my chest, pressing into the flesh over my heart. No, it was as still and as dead as it had been for the past year. Suddenly an overwhelming feeling of loss rose in my gut, and I squeezed my eyes shut, determined to make the images go away. I was shaking.

That couldn't have been a vision, could it? No. I could read minds already, and it wouldn't be fair to have a second super power. My fingertips massaged my temples, knowing that I _should _have had a headache right now. I'd welcome the pain. I'd welcome anything that made me feel _real_.

I sat up in bed, staring at the wall, searching for a logical reason for my visions. As a very small child I had a problem with sleepwalking. Had I developed a similar condition with sleep-mind reading? In which case, I knew where my visions were coming from.

I threw back the covers on my bed. Looking down at my Daffy Duck pyjamas, I shrugged and reached for the doorknob.

I knocked gently on Alice's door. I gave her a moment, but no one answered. I knocked again before turning the knob and entering the room.

Alice was gone.

On the perfectly made bed was a book of quotes. One of her bookmarks was stuck between the pages, and I carefully opened it to the spot she had marked out for me.

_No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious._

"_Alice_!"


	7. Almost The End

That night, Eddie took Esme's Rolls Royce into the city.

He'd even dressed up for the occasion, in suit and tie. With his dark hair slicked back, he was hardly recognizable.

But he would be recognizable to one person.

He pushed into the office.

"Hey, you can't go in-" He turned around. The young woman stopped in her tracks. "Oh. Good evening, sir." She sounded a little nervous. "Shall I call Mr Jenkins for you?" She indicated the telecom.

Eddie placed his hand on the doorknob. "I'd prefer the element of surprise." He gave her his practiced vampire smile. The girl smiled shakily and sat back down behind the reception desk, and Eddie saw her carefully erasing the security footage of the moment he walked into the building.

Jenkins looked after his high profile clients.

The skinny, bald man sitting behind the spotless desk immediately jumped up. For a moment his face looked like he was gearing up to shoo the intruder out of his office, but as soon as he saw who it was, his conviction faded.

"Mr Edward, what a delight to see you! I trust you are well?"

Eddie's stoic expression didn't change. Generally, the Collinses would forge their own documents, but occasionally there were times where they were forced to rely on outside... contractors.

"As well as can be expected." He replied coolly, taking a seat.

"What can I do for you?" Jenkins asked nervously. There was something about this youth that immediately set him on edge. Collins always seemed much older than he actually was.

"Papers." Eddie said. "I need a birth certificate and a passport."

Suddenly Jenkins was all business. You could take a man out of the slums, but you could never take the slums out of the man. He reached for a pen and paper.

"Name?"

"Dorothy Beatrice Cullen." He said. A driver's licence for his own alias, Teddy Cullen, was sitting in his back pocket.

"Age?"

"Eighteen months."

"Do you have a picture of the subject?"

Eddie reached around for his wallet. After a moment, he pulled out a snapshot Esme had taken of the baby DB, sitting among her toys placidly and staring into the camera, almost as if she knew that the photo would have a purpose. He handed it to Jenkins, and the man studied it for a long moment, hand on his chin.

Eddie's eyes narrowed. "Do say whatever you're thinking." It came out perhaps a little bit sharper than he had intended and Jenkins suddenly looked frightened.

"Mr Edward, as you know, my partners and I have entered into what is a very lucrative deal with your family, and not once have I ever asked about your activities. But I have to air my misgivings now. You're not planning to take this child from her parents, are you?"

Eddie's indignation was tempered by his curiosity. "I assure you, Mr Jenkins, this is my niece. Her parents were killed during some... dubious business transactions, and I'd rather her whereabouts not be traced."

Jenkins looked minutely placated. He gathered together the documents and shuffled them into his personal day planner.

"I ask merely because not that long ago a woman came through our offices with a child that looked very much like your niece." Suddenly he looked extremely nervous. "She – she used you as a reference."

Eddie's eyes narrowed. "Really."

His lips pursed, Jenkins waved Eddie to his feet before the two of them went back out to the security desk.

"Amelia, pull up the information on our last transaction."

His little blonde assistant, knowing immediately what he was talking about, keyed in something on the computer. The screen went blank, and then leapt into life. Eddie sat down as the woman walked into the office. Her long hair hung down to her waist, and she moved with a grace that seemed familiar.

All too familiar.

"_Hi. Mr Edward recommended you for a job." _She fiddled restlessly with her bag strap. DB was sitting in the stroller in front of her, leaning forward against her restraints, trying to see everything at once.

"_Could I get a name, miss?"_

"_Katherine Landry."_

Jenkins cut the CCTV, pausing on a shot of the woman's fine porcelain features. "You know her?"

Somehow Eddie felt hot and cold at the same time. "Never seen her before in my life." He managed to choke out.

Jenkins looked doubtful, but erased that expression when Eddie looked up. He stood, and recognising the cue, Jenkins stuck out his hand. "Same place, old chap?"

Eddie didn't shake his hand. "Same fee."

And he left the office.

Meanwhile, I, of course, was completely unaware of all that was going on with Eddie.

I was standing in the bush at the edge of the Collins's land, waiting for the skinwalker delegation, DB in my arms. Beside me were Inez and the surviving three members of her own clan, her two sisters, the small and dark Annabel, the tall and redheaded Verity, and the husband of their sire, Jackson.

The three sisters seemed very careful not to mention their sire around Jackson. I wondered if she too fell foul of the Volturi.

I regarded Jackson curiously. He too had the white, powdery skin and the ancient, withered limbs reminiscent of the Volturi, but his topaz eyes were clear and unclouded. He was an ancient vampire, but he hadn't allowed himself to crumble into dust. His mind seemed amazingly quick, and he even had a sense of humour, which took me entirely by surprise.

Verity sniffed at the air. "They're coming." She said. "God, what a stink."

"Be nice." Jackson said, in an amazingly firm and husky voice. "They're here to help us. And then we will both go our own ways."

Verity bared her canines. I guessed that out of all of them, Verity was the most volatile. In a way, she reminded me of Rosalie. Or even Sam.

DB snuffled something against my neck. It may have been a word, but I couldn't be sure. The little girl had to be almost two years old, and it struck me as strange that she hadn't even attempted to form words yet. She didn't seem to be bothered, though. If she wanted attention, she would find a way to get it.

The six of us heard the same sounds at the same time. I could hear many paws striking the ground at a leisurely pace, and among them were the heavier footsteps of a lone human.

Emlin stepped out to meet me, his eyes pinpricks of light in the dying darkness. He was to talk for the pack. Standing stock still, I was aware of other circles of light appearing all around us, the eyes of creatures both on the ground and in the trees. Each of them was connected to the other on a primal level I could not hope to understand.

The pack was larger than I had thought.

Inez took a small step toward him, and immediately I heard a growl. Silently, the grasses swishing behind, a gigantic black panther emerged from the bushes, winding around one of Emlin's legs. The panther crouched, nose to the ground, watching us, and I knew that we were looking at Sam's other 'skin'.

"Ella." He greeted me cordially, as his other half growled continuously by his heels, sounding a bit like my car.

"Emlin."

DB gave a small squawk, signalling her desire to be released. I carefully lowered her to the ground, reluctant to let her go. Emlin's face tightened and as the girl toddled over, and he made an indistinct motion with his hands, restraining the pack. In that moment I had to wonder whether it really _was _Sam that was in charge, or whether Emlin had continued as pack leader, only in a different way.

I watched, heart practically in my throat, as Emlin and Sam approached the little girl. DB gave me a sunny smile, trying to convey to me that it was all alright. I wished so much to have been able to read what was going through the collective pack mind, but I was... _repelled_. I was aware that they were there, but I couldn't scratch their telepathic link.

And DB silently told her story. Thanks to the collective consciousness of the pack, she only needed to explain herself once.

We talked. Made arrangements. Prepared to protect our various territories. New treaties were formed. As Jackson, Inez, and her sisters left, I stood by DB as the little girl stared at the retreating pack with something akin to wonder.

Behind me there was suddenly the sickening noise of shredding skin. I snarled, and snatched DB from the ground. It was rather startling at how I was fully prepared to tear apart anyone that threatened the child in my arms.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," My eyes fixed on the person that had been hiding in the trees. Jack Black was standing with his hands in the air like he was being arrested. There was an empty leather pouch around his leg, and a pair of shorts dangled from his little finger.

I shielded DB's eyes.

"Well, I'd ask you if you were glad to see me, but I think I'd be disappointed." I cocked an eyebrow.

"It's cold out here!" He protested.

I muffled a laugh against DB's curls as Jack struggled into his shorts. After a moment, I lifted DB onto my shoulders, the little girl giggling with delight. And I ran.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised that Jack could keep up with my pace, even in his human skin, but it still riled me a bit. Once I thought I'd overtaken him, and glanced to the side, just as Jack used an outcropping of rock as a springboard to leap in front of me. I gaped, and because of the extreme speed at which I was still travelling, ended up with a mouthful of bugs. Most of them were still twitching.

DB giggled as I came to a stop, holding onto my hair like reins.

Jack grinned widely as I spat out insect carcasses. If DB hadn't been clinging to my hair, I would have kicked him.

"You _ass_!"

"Are we bonding? I feel like we're bonding." I scowled as he shed his shorts, stuffed them into the leather pouch at his leg, and bounded away. Somewhere mid-lope, there was that nasty moist ripping noise again, and where Jack had been now stood a massive, reddish wolf-like creature, a sprinkling of tan on his snout and down his back. His big eyes rolled at me, clearly challenging me, and DB tugged at my hair, urging me onwards.

I hadn't realised how much fun hanging out with others of the supernaturally-inclined could be.

My spirits were to swiftly take a nosedive when I reached the Collins house.

Esme greeted Jack with her customary enthusiasm, and was soon to whisk him away to find him a shirt and some food. I settled DB, and walked past Eddie's closed bedroom door, thinking of what kitchen disaster awaited me at home.

"Ella."

Eddie had heard my light footsteps, and was leaning against his doorframe, pretending to be casual, but not quite succeeding. His dour, serious manner was worlds away from Jack's cheerful, optimistic outlook.

"Are you okay?" I asked, mentally noting that he looked like crap, and his hair was swept back in a poofy style.

"No. Not really."My eyes narrowed. Something here was seriously wrong. "Did you know?" He asked hoarsely. "Did you know about Katherine Landry? Did she tell you?"

_So that's what her name was._ I must have hesitated a moment too long, because Eddie immediately pounced.

"You _knew!_ Why didn't you _tell _me? Why didn't _she _tell me?" There was undisguised anguish in his voice, and I winced.

"It's not that bad." I offered weakly.

"_Not that bad_?" Eddie glared at me.

I glared back. "I didn't say anything because it wasn't important. I didn't say anything for the obvious reason the current doesn't mention the ex. She's dead now, so it doesn't matter!"

He slumped a little at my words, like I had just killed off a bit of him. "_Not important? _The girl I thought I might spend my life with one day up and leaves with some bloody vampire and then dumps her kid on me? _How is that not important?_"

"Some bloody vampire." I said quietly.

What he said seemed to finally sink in. He reached out to me, horrified. "God, I didn't mean-"

"So I was just some sort of twisted experiment to see why your ex left you?" I asked calmly.

"No!" Eddie realised too late that he had answered too quickly. I nodded stiffly.

"You know, all along I've been worried that_ I_ was the one screwing _you_ over." I wanted to cry, but I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "Goodnight, Edward."

He grabbed at my arm as I brushed past. I spun and slapped him across the face, not caring if I hurt him. His head smacked back against the wall and a hand immediately went to his mouth. I could smell the spicy smell of his blood and bared my fangs at him.

For a moment he actually looked scared.

"You're not worth it." I said. I could feel human-Ella slipping away. In that moment, I wanted to be the vampire, and nothing else. Something that wouldn't mind the pain.

And then I left.

I didn't go home. I couldn't go back to Eddie. So I sat on a rock in the middle of a vacant lot, arms around my legs and chin resting on my knees. Vampires were romantic figures, dashing about in cloaks and skintight leather catsuits. They knew what they wanted and they took it. There were no repercussions and always a happily ever after at the end of a long day.

I should have known it was all bullshit.

A lone tear rolled off the end of my nose and splashed against the ground. I sniffed and straightened up.

That would be the only tear I would shed for Eddie Collins. I stood up on the stone and took a deep breath, letting the scents of Fawkes, this place that had become my home, wash over me.

But there was something new in the night.

I sniffed again. The smell was sweet, familiar and foreign at the same time. It took me a moment before I placed it.

_Decay._

"Oh no." I breathed.

The Volturi were here.


	8. A Not So Epic Battle

**AN: This chapter has been split into two parts, and the next will be uploaded in a couple of days or so.**

**That one _will _be the final chapter, promise.**

* * *

There was no time.

I'd called Chuck, demanding that he lock himself in the bathroom with his service weapons, and not move until I called back. He logically asked what was he supposed to do if I didn't call.

I had no answer for him. Only overly-emo teenagers with no social skills really contemplated their demise in any detail.

In my hurry to get back to the place I had been swearing I would never go to ever again just a few minutes ago, I almost ran right over Jackson, who had been sitting in the long grass with his eyes open and glassy.

He snapped back into himself and caught me by the back of the shirt just before my own momentum would have smeared my nose against the ground.

"Sorry." I squeaked, but he was hardly perturbed. He gave me a rather grandfatherly smile and set me on my feet. My gibbering hysteria was pushed aside by a sudden surge of curiosity. What the hell was Jackson doing out here all alone? Where were his daughters that always seemed to be shadowing him, like he was an old and eccentric uncle that needed to be babysat?

The second question as my ears picked up the faint sounds of rustling grasses. Even during this temporary truce, it seemed only myself and Inez were confident enough to walk around on our own.

"We live and die in... interesting times, my dear." He said, in that strange voice that was too young for his aged frame. I frowned.

"That's not _quite_ the adjective that I would have picked."

Without turning around, I was aware of the two of us being surrounded, my vampires coming down to watch us. Behind Jackson, Annabel and Verity emerged from the trees, perfect, flawless goddesses. For an insane moment, I wondered if I looked anything like they did.

_Vanity, thy name is Ella._

"They're coming."

Jackson took a deep sniff of the air, and exhaled sharply. "I am aware." He said. "Inez has gone forth to rouse our human allies. The one called Jack has left to retrieve his own people." I then noticed that there was something else strange about Jackson. Although he turned his head in my direction when he spoke to me, he always seemed to look slightly to one side or through me entirely. My eyes popped.

"You're _blind_." Probably not one of the most tactful things I'd ever said.

"I am. But I choose not to be."

"Yeah, okay, Master Yoda."

Jackson held out his hand to me. "Sit down, girl." It wasn't a demand, but not something you could refuse. So I cautiously settled cross-legged onto the dew-dampened grass. I sat there feeling uncomfortable as the other vampires stared at us expectantly, glowing amber eyes in the darkness.

"So, um, what are we supposed to be doing?"

"Buying time." Jackson cocked his head to the side.

"For what?"

"So your human companions can prepare." He said simply.

"Can't the Volturi just... read our minds and find out what we're planning?" I demanded.

"Not if we _don't know_ what they're planning." He said. "Besides, the last one among the Volturi with defensive abilities was me."

I stared at him, and Jackson nodded. "Many centuries ago, I was a tracker for the Volturi. There was talk of mutiny, when Marcus wished to topple Caius from power and replace him in the triumvirate with me."

"Why?"

"Caius has no _real_ power himself. Like the best dictators, he relies solely on the sacrifices of his people. Aro stopped war from breaking out, Marcus never raised another word against Caius, and I was... punished, left alive to be a reminder of what happens when you anger the Volturi."

"Defensive abilities?" I asked tentatively. I really didn't want to think of Jackson's story too much. It was mind-boggling to think of the measures that must have been taken to steal the sight of a vampire.

"Yes. Your mind-reading is defensive. I myself can see a face, and... impress on them the sudden urge to go away. In contrast, those two young ones of the Volturi, Jane and Alec have purely offensive abilities."

"Met them." I said. I wiped my palms on my jeans. "So how is this supposed to be buying time?"

That was when he took my hands, and squeezed them slightly. "I am going to confuse the Volturi forces." He said. "But I need to see a face. For obvious reasons, I cannot do it on my own."

"You want to piggyback off my mind-reading?" I frowned.

Jackson nodded.

Confusing the enemy sounded like a good plan, but I'd never really bothered to test my psychic aptitude. "How long?"

"As long as it takes to give our people an advantage." Jackson said soberly.

"As long as it takes." I agreed.

I'd never get used to the feeling of delving into someone else's mind, everything opening up before me, thoughts, memories, what they were considering having for dinner, and every little perverted thought they had ever had over a lifetime.

And since an average vampire was a lifetime plus some, most of the things I saw made me want to throw up my own liver.

I could feel it as Jackson held onto my consciousness as I reached toward the Volturi forces. His presence didn't hurt, but what was uncomfortable was the way his awareness and sense of self kept repeatedly washing over me, inundating me with images from the mind of this old, old vampire. I saw great things. I saw terrible things.

I reached out toward the Volturi forces again and again, feeling more and more nauseated each time I read one of their minds. Jackson sent them shambling as he _repelled_ at them, and as I searched for our next victim, I brushed a bright, cheerfully-coloured personality that I recognised almost straight away.

_Alice!_

Alice and Jasper were approaching from a different direction. My heart was in my throat when I realised that yet another group of vampires followed along not that far behind them. I broke contact with Jackson, wanting to run up over the hill to meet her, but he held me back. "There will be time later." He said, and I watched as my fellow vampires slunk away, almost in formation.

_Alice!_

I'd never really believed that a human was capable of killing a vampire. After all, our skin may have been perfect and blemish-less, but it was like it was made of chiselled granite. We were invulnerable.

At least that's what I thought before I met the other hunters.

John Chesterton and Carl were old friends from way back, when Carl still lived in England. From what I gathered, the two of them met by accident while hunting a demon, and later Esme joined the duo when her baby son was killed by the same creature.

John was an adventurer, tall and sleekly muscled, with a grizzled face and tangled black hair. He would have been the sort of person who could just vanish into the crowd if it wasn't for the angry-looking burn scars that ran down the back of his neck. It was hard to imagine the cultured Carl and delicate Esme running with this battered, tough, and generally scary-looking man, but the couple's patience and persistence had to come from somewhere.

If I thought John looked scary, however, I was in for a shock when I met the others.

First were the fierce Irishwoman named Maeve and her sometimes-lover William. William and Maeve had taken under their wing an orphaned boy with bright red hair named Michael, who had the knack of knowing _exactly _when he was being lied to, which generally meant that people tended to avoid him a bit. The trio accepted our story immediately.

William had called in favours from the wider hunter network, but from what I gathered, half of them turned out to be dead.

And then the Lost Boys turned up.

I guessed the name of this vampire hunter gang had first been an ironic code word to maintain the secrecy of its crewmembers, and eventually the title, no matter how inappropriate, just stuck. The Lost Boys consisted of a tall, dark-skinned woman with exotic, feral features, two young and cocky American men, an Englishman with a bad attitude, and a mysterious blonde that I strongly suspected _might _have been some kind of witch.

All of them looked like they could have easily made short work of me.

Verity was waiting with John for me to arrive. The redheaded vampire was oddly fascinated with the scruffy hunter, and he seemed to regard her with the same fascination. They were both staring past me, into the darkness.

"They're coming." John said.

I was getting really sick of hearing that.

"Yeah,"

"We're ready."

I actually jumped as Sam stepped out of the bush. She must have only just shifted, as she was completely nude. To John's credit, he barely battered an eyelid.

"What were you waiting for?" I demanded.

"You." Verity said.

For the first time, I was heartily glad that the Collins's land was nowhere near civilisation and I stood on the hood of my car, watching the advancing Volturi front line. I was aware of Jack and Inez standing either side of me. I squinted into the darkness. There were less of them as I'd thought.

I wondered whether it was a ploy to lull us into a false sense of security.

With an easy leap, I was off the hood of the car and headed toward the brightly lit entrance to the Collins' house. I exchanged nods with Annabel and William as Jackson and Inez peeled off the formation to flank me.

Inside, the remnants of the Collins' family, Jack and Emlin were standing in the centre of the open lounge-room in a rough circle around Eddie and DB. Only Eddie knew where he was going to take the child. It was thought best not to share the information in case the Volturi _did_ read our minds.

DB was rugged up in tiny jeans and jumper against the harsh breeze, a resigned look on her small, perfect face. This was not the first time she had run.

I wondered whether she would be chased until the day she died.

"They are on the horizon." Inez gravely informed Carl and Esme.

"I can smell them." Jack growled.

"Our people have been arrayed around the perimeter." Jackson said. "Evenly distributed around yours. They will not get through without a fight."

I closed my eyes, trying to digest it all. It had been agreed that it was too dangerous to keep DB on the ground. If the Volturi were willing to take the time to listen, each of us had agreed to have our minds read by Aro. The ancient vampire would see through our eyes firsthand that DB had grown and matured in the months we had found her, even though she still did not speak. Hopefully we could eliminate the threat to her.

But if the Volturi really _did_ want DB as a new pet...

The skinwalker pack would fight, as the vampires were technically encroaching on their territory.

The hunters would fight because they thought it was fun.

Jackson and his clan would fight because of some long-forgotten transgression. And they would protect me and the Collinses as they saw Eddie and DB as belonging to the clan.

Because they belonged to me.

The room quietly cleared around me, leaving Eddie and DB behind. The toddler looked up at me and smiled, and I reached out to ruffle her sleek black curls. I could understand, more and more, why her mother willingly went to her death to get the child into Eddie's protection.

Eddie and I looked at each other awkwardly, not saying anything in case the screaming started. DB didn't need to see us fall apart now.

He pulled out the blue box.

"Open it." He said softly, offering it to me. I slowly took the box from him, cracked it open, and stared into the velvet-lined interior. Nestled onto the deep blue cushion was a polished stone on the end of a thick silver chain. Splashes of green, purple, blue and red cut across the dark surface, dappling it with colour. My mouth opened in a silent gasp.

"It's a black opal." Eddie said. "It belonged to my mum, Elizabeth. I know it's not a ring, but I thought... that one day..."

"One day's something." In one step, I had crossed the space between us and threw myself against his chest, burying my face against his neck. After a moment, his arms came up around me. His heart beat strongly against my cold and still chest, and longing burned in me. I wanted _so much_ to have been able to grow old with this man.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything." I whispered.

He gave a wry laugh. "Yeah. You probably should be."

"Thanks."

Eddie gently tugged the opal from my fist, and carefully latched the chain around my pale neck. "I wasn't expecting any of this either." He ran his hands across my cheekbones and down my neck, saying goodbye with his touch.

"This isn't how the story's supposed to end." Guilt forced its way up my throat. The moment I had set eyes on him, I had ruined his life. God knew why, he loved me.

And one way or another, I'd killed him.

"I suppose... I suppose in a way, this is best."

"How do you figure?" He murmured against my hair.

"This wasn't meant to last. You're a normal guy, I'm a-" For some reason, I couldn't get the word out. "I can't give you what you deserve. I can't... give you stability, or security, or a family-"

"Did you ever think that maybe you're enough for me?" He touched my lips, and then bent down to kiss me swiftly, if passionately. I really didn't want to let him go, but someone delicately cleared their throat behind us. Esme was standing by the door, her caramel-coloured locks tied away from her face.

"Edward." She said. Her voice was hollow.

"I love you." I breathed as he pulled away. He didn't speak, but the look on his face said that his heart was breaking. He gathered up DB and the two of them followed Esme and disappeared into the darkness.

The last of the warmth seemed to seep out of my body leaving me a cold, frozen statue. A lone tear tracked its way down my cheek and I brushed it away vigorously.

Jack came into the room. I could smell the slightly earthy fragrance that always seemed to accompany his presence. "You okay?"

"Not really."

"You want to go kick some butt?"

"Yeah." My mind immediately seemed to clear. "I could really use someone to hit."

Jack laughed, and offered me his hand. I reached out to him, and the two of us walked out into the night arm in arm.

_The Volturi has existed for thousands of years, and has done nothing in that time besides consolidate their power._

Did we even stand a chance?

I reached out to the second group, but for some reason, they seemed to feel different to the vampires I had sensed with Jackson. They seemed more determined than evil, and I wondered at them.

It didn't make a difference. We would only be crushed between them.

I could feel a presence reaching out towards us, trying to break the links of kinship and friends between us. I tensed myself against the coming disorienting and debilitating attack.

With a gasp, I was aware of another presence rearing up behind us from the second group. With a thrill of fear, I recognised Jane's manic and slightly unhinged mind, and was expecting amazing amounts of pain at any second when Jane's presence washed over all of us and clashed against the first group of vampires.

Jane was fighting for _us, _and it almost bowled me over.

I turned around, and looked into the eyes of the delicate female vampire who had emerged from the trees behind us, surrounded by many others who were members of the Guard. Jane met my gaze evenly, and then bowed her head to me in a gesture of submissiveness. I could have slapped myself!

_I'm the Volturi guard's dominant female!_

My very presence had caused the Volturi to split right down the middle, the Guard on one side and the Triumvirate and their pampered hangers-on on the other.

A savage grin crept across my face. "Let's get 'em."

Jack gave an answering triumphant howl, and as one, the skinwalkers seemed to leap forward and tear into the Volturi front line. John, the Collins', and the other hunters brought weapons to bear, and my fellow vampires launched themselves into the fray.

Suddenly everything was one long red blur as my clothes and hair was being torn at, several long stinging lines being scored in my pale skin. Every so often, I caught a glimpse of one of the others, Jack, tearing into the Volturi, Inez, leaping around as nimbly as a deer, bringing her teeth to bear, or her clan or one of the hunters.

There were bodies. I didn't look too close in case I recognised someone I loved.

Jane went down. I didn't even like her, but I still turned in her direction. That lapse in concentration allowed someone to strike me firmly across the back of my skull, sending me sprawling into the bloody dirt, my ears ringing. And then someone was on my back, wrenching my head back and brushing my neck with their sharp fangs.

"STOP!"

Suddenly the weight was gone and someone else grabbed my upper arms, hauling me to my feet.

"Where is Eddie?!" Alice shrieked at me. Aro and Marcus were shadowing her and Jasper, looking anxious.

And then everything fell into place. The first vampire army had no leader. Jane was on our side, and she was fiercely loyal to only _one _man. Alice and Jasper had gone to Italy to convince Aro and Marcus to come here, to stop-

_Only _one_ of the vampire leaders ever really wanted to see us dead._

"We've been played." I whispered in horror.

I reached out desperately for Eddie, knowing that I wouldn't find anything. The fact that I could never seem to read his mind clearly was one of the things that had initially attracted me to him. Now I could have screamed.

"Go!" Alice screamed at me.

I ran, following Jack as he bounded along, following the fresh scents of Eddie and DB. Aro, Marcus, and the Collinses had been behind me, but Jack and I had lost them as we pounded across the hard ground. The dirt road turned to tar as we joined the road into the middle of town. I felt sick with the knowledge that Caius was running around somewhere in Fawkes, my town, after my bloke and my kid.

Jack let out a harsh bark, and I looked up in time to see the taillights of Rosalie's red convertible roaring out of town. I slowed to a stop, but my relief suddenly turned into terror as a black and white flash swung down from the massive gum trees and straight into the front of the car, spinning the vehicle off the road and crumpling the bonnet.

There was the squeal of burning rubber and Caius smiled directly at me, baring fangs, before punching through the windscreen. I saw and smelled blood. Spicy blood.

DB screamed.

I was too slow to stop the ancient vampire from dragging Eddie from the car and hauling him upright as he firmly gripped DB by the hand.

"Get back!"

Jack let out a defiant howl. Caius's teeth grazed Eddie's neck.

"Now!"

"Caius!" Aro and Marcus had arrived.

"Caius, this is not the way to get what you want." Aro's voice was sharp and commanding, nowhere near his usual slightly-stoned tone.

"Let me and the child leave!" DB was whimpering at his heels. "Let us leave and no one will be harmed."

"What do you think you are doing, Caius?"

"Consolidating my power." Caius explained evenly. "_You_ wouldn't know anything about that. You with your..._ witchcraft_. I've had to _work _for all I have achieved. And you know? That makes me more powerful than _any _of you. It's time I was rewarded some _respect._"

"This is wrong, old friend." Aro said softly.

"_DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"_ Caius hollered. In his manic state, he didn't notice when DB pulled her hand from his grip.

With a shrill cry, she bared her teeth and fell on Caius, latching onto his leg, burying her teeth again and again into his pale, powdery flesh.

The ancient vampire's eyes widened in surprise, and in the moment his grip loosened on Eddie, Eddie drew his arm back and buried his elbow in the vampire's stomach.

Something in his arm snapped, but it was just enough of a distraction to enable Eddie to grab DB, wincing in pain. I stepped forward in front of them as Caius lashed out, grabbing me around the throat, squeezing.

I could feel muscles rubbing together that really shouldn't be rubbing together, and I grabbed his clawlike hands, struggling against him. He couldn't kill me, but right now I was more worried about the ancient vampire pulling my head off.

And then the hand fell away.

Caius was standing there in front of me, his eyes blank. I looked down.

There was a splintered wooden end poking through his torso. I blinked.

Marcus was standing behind his Volturi brother, holding the wooden stake firmly imbedded between Caius's ribs. Slowly Caius turned to face him.

"Et tu, Marcus?" He breathed.

And died.

Marcus looked at me, his face as blank as it always was as I gathered DB to me, Eddie rising to stand by my side, wincing as he gripped his shattered arm. I watched Caius wither away to a slightly dark stain on the tar.

"Prove to me that I have made the right choice." He said, and walked away.


	9. To Be Continued

So the lion fell in love with the lamb and all that, blah, blah.

I said that to Eddie once when we were sitting on the balcony of our Volterra apartment one day. He'd just looked at me blankly with an eyebrow raised before asking quite seriously whether he was the 'lamb' in this relationship.

Heh.

It might seem unbelievably stupid to anyone looking in, but about a year after Alice and Jasper's wedding, Eddie and I took the four-year-old DB and moved to Italy. After all, we had nothing to fear from the Volturi now, without unleashing the Guard on their pasty, withered asses. It struck me as strange that Marcus and Aro had not replaced Caius in the ruling Triumvirate.

At least it had seemed strange until Eddie told me he caught Aro staring after me, contemplating.

We enrolled DB in school there, and it took me a_ long_ time to convince her that she had to actually _talk_ to her teachers instead of just placing her thoughts directly into their minds. She seemed incredibly disappointed, but she still opened her mouth obediently and uttered her first word. Or words.

"But I don't _want _to!"

"And I don't _want _to put up with this attitude every morning! But I'm getting it anyway, aren't I?" I hadn't felt really like a mum until that moment.

DB smouldered into silence, only sharing her thoughts with Jack when he came to visit. The little girl insisted on going to bed early that night, and Eddie and I finally managed to get some… _alone time_ for the first time in a year.

I was wired as he slipped my little satin gown off my shoulders and I tugged him closer by his open shirt. It was honestly the longest time I had ever gone dating a guy without the sex, and the first time he touched my naked body, I-

…yeah, like I'm going to tell you _that_, you perv.

Anyway, it was all fireworks and shooting stars until DB broke the spell by picking the gravy stroke* to bang on our door demanding a glass of water. I'd never _really _wanted to strangle the child until that moment.

It kind of got worse in the morning when I realised, as evidenced by stained sheets, that I'd scored bloody fingermarks into Eddie's back and left black and blue bruises on his hips.

I was mortified, but Eddie laughed it off, commenting sarcastically that since high school he had always been kind of curious about S&M.

DB, sitting at the table, suddenly asked what S&M was.

The kitchen then got really quiet.

The three of us still went back to Fawkes during the school holidays. We had to, as Chuck, Carl and Esme still lived there, though Emmett and Rosalie had gone off to California in the US of A, and Alice and Jasper had settled somewhere in Tasmania. With the kids, of course. Christmastime was the only time I had ever known the massive Collins's house to be completely packed to the rafters.

Banging around in boxes in his old room, Eddie somehow managed to find a copy of his old yearbook, which he made the mistake of showing to me. I found an early picture of DB's mother, Eddie's ex. She looked amazingly sweet and wholesome in a way I would never look.

I also found a picture of her vampire husband, and whistled.

"God, I can see why she left you."

Eddie scowled, but he affectionately tugged on the end of my plat.

Emlin and Sam eventually married. Around the same time, I asked Jack what he had meant when he had warned me to stay away from Eddie. Jack said matter-of-factly that if I had managed to stay away from Fawkes in the first place, the elders of his tribe would have gotten what they had always wanted.

The hunters slaughtered and the vampires eradicated. My father, Eddie's parents and Jack's pack were continually working on maintaining the teetering truce between the three factions.

Inez didn't leave with her sisters and father when the trio decided to leave the safety of the skinwalkers' reservation to the greenery of the English countryside. Instead she decided to stay and try to rebuild the Fawkes vampire community. The hunter John left with the vampire Verity. The two of them seemed quite enamoured with each other, and I wondered whether I'd started a trend.

And Fawkes was a sanctuary once more.

Eddie had a PhD and Bachelor of Law, but he decided to get himself a part-time job as a mechanic. That gave him the opportunity to still travel and do what he did best, and during the next two years, more vampire hunters than I would have liked tracked through my door at one time or another. He became renowned as a bit nutty, with his vampire girlfriend and demon foundling. It was only later that I realized what he had been doing.

It seemed that DB wasn't quite one-of-a-kind after all. From the information he had picked up, Eddie surmised that DB would age quite normally until the age of twenty-five or thirty, and then stop getting physically older.

It was a relief to realise that there really might be someone out there to spend eternity with DB when she grew up. That she might have a life when the rest of us were gone. After all the little girl had gone through, I could think of no one else who deserved a happy ending more.

It was still off-putting, in a way. DB would eventually look older than me. Eddie, though ageing _veeery _slowly, would eventually look older than me. Already, Eddie and I had gone from people looking disapprovingly at us with DB and going 'my, you must have started _young_', to pretty blonde waitresses cracking onto my man and saying 'it's so _nice _of you to buy your little sisters dinner'.

Although he didn't seem to be bothered by it, I was starting to worry about Eddie's mortality.

If all I had heard was correct, he had a very good chance of living forever, though he would still age, at an extremely decelerated rate. But sooner or later the vampire blood in him would start overwhelming his system, with the possibility of driving him insane. The obvious solution would be to make him a vampire like myself, but...

Would I rather have a man who loved me for a lifetime, or a vampire that would loathe me for all eternity?

The average vampire story wasn't meant to be this complicated.

One day, the three of us were in a bookstore in Sydney when DB immediately pranced over the rack of supernatural novels and snatched up a glossy book with some sort of symbolic image on the cover. While Eddie looked at technical manuals the next aisle over, DB spun around and brandished the book at me.

"You should _totally _do this!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What, write a book?"

DB pulled a face and puffed a black curl out of her eyes. "No, go into publishing. Yes, write a book!" She rolled her eyes.

The store assistant cast us a strange look, and I motioned for DB to keep her voice down. "What about?" I frowned. "You might have not noticed, but I'm not exactly the scholarly sort, DB."

DB grabbed my hand and pointed at the nameplate on the shelves.

_Vampires._

"Write _our_ story." She whispered excitedly. I was thinking of something to say when Eddie came up behind me and draped his arm around my neck, pressing a kiss to my pale cheek.

"What are my two favourite girls doing?" He asked, reaching out to ruffle DB's curls with the other hand. DB giggled, and hid behind the vampire novel.

"Ella's going to write a book." She told him matter-of-factly.

"Really?"

"She's going to write our story." DB showed him the vampire book, and he reached out to take the novel, scanning the back cover.

The shop assistant was still looking over at us suspiciously, and I gave her a small grin and a wave. "I'm not sure that's a good idea." I said around my smile. "The Volturi's whole existence is about keeping the secrecy of people like me. I _think_ they'd probably object to me writing a book about us."

"I think it's a good idea." Eddie said, eyes still on the book.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, what's a better way to hide something than in fiction?" He replied. "No one's about to murder an author because they think they're a _vampire_."

"Plus you could write from home." DB added.

"Change some names, a few facts..."

"You could even use a _nom de plume_! And you'll need a snappy title!"

"I'll think about it." I took the vampire book from Eddie's hands and put it back on the shelf.

"Write a book..."

And that's it. My vampire story that I like to think is slightly different to everyone else's.

I changed names. Changed a few facts, and even a few genders.

I won't say The End. 'Cause me and Eddie and DB and all our friends and family are going to keep going on. We won't just stop as soon as you finish reading this. We'll still exist some way. So I'll just say-

To Be Continued.

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**Disclaimer: The concept of Twilight belongs to SMeyer and those associated.**

**AN: For those of you who've read The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks, you'll recognise a similar ending. If you haven't, I heartily recommend the book, if you don't take your vampires that seriously.  
**

*For those who've never heard that slang before, the gravy stroke is the, ah, final stroke before orgasm. Yes, I'm obscene.

**So I won't say The End, only To Be Continued.**


End file.
